Presented 


tVit 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


by  ^V\<2^  CAvyV^Vv  oY~r 


Division L...K...S 

Section  L.LL.l^  . 


^cB 

'1012' 


IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/americanmissioni00wats_0 


MISSIONARY  WORKERS 


IN  THE  VALLEY  OE 
THE  NILE 


A SURVEY  OF  THE  MISSIONARY 
MOVEMENT  IN  EGYPT 


BY 

CHARLES  R.  WATSON 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1908,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago : 80  Wabash  Avenue 
Toronto  : 25  Richmond  St.,  W. 
London  : 2 1 Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh : 100  Princes  Street 


PREFACE 


An  invitation  to  deliver  the  Students'  Lectures 
on  Missions  at  the  Princeton  Theological  Semi- 
nary afforded  the  opportunity  and  the  special  oc- 
casion for  gathering  together  the  material  to  be 
found  in  this  book.  These  lectures  are  published 
with  the  conviction  that  there  is  a need  for  a 
volume  which  will  present,  in  outline  at  least, 
the  story  of  Christian  missionary  effort  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Nile. 

It  is  estimated  that  some  twelve  thousand  Eng- 
lish-speaking tourists  visit  Egypt  every  year.  A 
large  proportion  of  these  are  deeply  interested  in 
the  progress  of  Christianity  throughout  the 
world.  To  these  we  may  add  a much  larger  num- 
ber of  men  and  women  of  Great  Britain  and 
America  who  have  become  deeply  interested  in 
this  historic  and  Bible  land  through  an  acquaint- 
ance with  it  more  or  less  direct.  It  is  strange 
that,  apart  from  denominational  publications 
which  necessarily  fail  to  reach  the  general  travel- 
ling and  reading  public,  there  is  barely  a book 
which  undertakes  to  portray  religious  conditions 
and  to  tell  the  story  of  modern  missions  in  the 
Nile  Valley. 


5 


6 


PREFACE 


The  present  book  cannot  be  regarded  as  more 
than  a handbook  on  Egypt  in  its  relation  to  Chris- 
tianity and  Christian  missions.  The  subject  is 
a large  one,  and  on  every  hand  the  possibilities  of 
detailed  study  present  themselves.  For  those  who 
desire  to  pursue  further  their  study  of  various 
questions  or  periods,  references  have  been  given 
in  the  Appendix.  Those  who  desire  to  arrive  at 
once  at  the  story  of  modern  missions,  will  pass 
over  the  first  two  chapters.  These,  however, 
were  inserted  for  the  sake  of  explaining  historic- 
ally, as  well  as  to  present  practically,  the 
true  genius  of  the  two  religions  with  which  the 
modern  missionary  must  deal.  As  no  new  ma- 
terial on  the  subject  of  Moravian  missions  in 
Egypt  was  available  or  discoverable,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  make  use,  at  this  point,  of  material 
used  in  the  author’s  “ Egypt  and  the  Christian 
Crusade.” 

Missionary  work  in  Egypt  has  unusual  claims 
upon  the  student  of  world  movements.  The  early 
introduction  of  the  Christian  faith  into  Egypt  and 
its  rapid  spread,  constitute  a thrilling  chapter  in 
the  history  of  early  Christianity.  The  subsequent 
decay  of  the  movement  teaches  sober  lessons  as 
to  the  imperative  duty  of  safeguarding  the  purity 
of  Christian  faith  and  life.  Egypt  also  presents 
a unique  opportunity  for  studying  from  every 
point  of  view  the  widespread  Moslem  faith,  for. 


PREFACE 


7 


here,  Islam  dominates  and  has  moulded  every 
sphere  of  life — the  social,  the  political,  the  moral, 
the  religious,  the  intellectual,  the  industrial,  and 
the  commercial.  Furthermore,  the  record  of  the 
modern  missionary  enterprise  is  one  of  rare  in- 
terest. There  is  the  inspiring  story  of  the  Mo- 
ravian missions,  the  interesting  record  of  the 
British  Church  Missionary  Society,  the  stirring 
narrative  of  the  American  Mission.  The  study 
of  these  modern  missionary  efforts  must  be  not 
only  deeply  suggestive  to  the  student  of  missions, 
but  spiritually  stimulating  to  every  one  interested 
in  the  progress  of  Christianity  in  the  world. 

The  author  wishes  to  express  his  indebtedness 
to  valuable  historical  works  bearing  upon  his 
theme,  found  in  the  Congressional  Library  at 
Washington,  the  Astor  Library  of  New  York, 
and  the  Foreign  Mission  Library  of  the  Yale 
Divinity  School,  and  also  to  that  exhaustive  and 
interesting  record  The  American  Mission  in 
Egypt,”  by  Andrew  Watson,  D.D. 

If  this  book  shall  avail  at  all  to  quicken  faith  in 
the  conquering  power  of  Christianity,  to  deepen 
the  sense  of  obligation  for  missionary  activity, 
and  to  hasten  the  Christian  evangelisation  of 
Egypt,  the  aim  of  the  writer  will  have  been 
accomplished. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Early  Christianity  in  Egypt  . . 13 

II.  Islam  in  the  Nile  Valley  . . 60 

III.  Early  Modern  Missions  ...  99 

IV.  The  American  Mission  . . . 132 

V.  Recent  Missionary  Efforts  . . 169 

VI.  The  Present  Outlook  . . . 204 

Appendix  .......  237 

Index 245 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 

PAGE 

Missionary  Workers  ....  Title 
St.  Barbara  Coptic  Church  ...  25 

Church  of  Babylon  in  Old  Cairo  . , 25 

Moslems  at  Prayer 94 

Costume  of  Egyptian  Woman  ...  94 

The  “Ibis,”  the  Missionary  Nile-Boat  . 122 

An  Egyptian  Village  .....  122 

Mosque  of  Mohammed  Ali,  Cairo  . . 132 

American  Mission  Building,  Cairo  . .132 

Mission  Hospital  at  Assiut  . . . 158 

Theological  Seminary  at  Cairo  . . 158 

Converts  of  Modern  Missions  . . . 194 

Pressly  Memorial  Institute,  Assiut  . . 214 


I 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT 
HE  modern  missionary  movement  in  the 


Nile  Valley  has  to  reckon  with  two  reli- 


gious systems.  One  is  a corrupt  and  de- 
graded form  of  Christianity.  The  other  is  “ the 
mightiest  system  of  monotheism  the  world  has 
ever  known.”  One  is  the  Coptic  Church.  The 
other  is  Islam. 

Since  nine-tenths  of  the  people  of  Egypt  are 
Mohammedans,  Islam  may  well  be  considered, 
from  the  numerical  point  of  view,  the  supreme 
problem  of  missions  in  Egypt.  By  its  hostility 
to  Christianity  and  its  unyielding  character,  it 
establishes  a farther  and  a final  claim  to  first  place 
among  the  problems  confronting  the  missionary 
in  the  Nile  Valley.  The  missionary,  however, 
also  regards  the  spiritual  uplift  of  the  Copts  as  an 
immediate  duty,  whose  accomplishment  is  im- 
portant, not  merely  for  its  own  sake,  but  also  as 
a piece  of  missionary  strategy. 

There  is  no  better  way  to  appreciate  the  true 
genius  of  any  religious  movement  than  by  be- 
coming acquainted  with  the  history  of  its  begin- 


14  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


nings,  its  development,  and  its  establishment. 
The  best  way  also  to  understand  the  present  re- 
ligious condition  of  Egypt  is  to  survey — though 
it  be  briefly  and  in  mere  outline — the  history  of 
the  entrance  into  the  Nile  Valley  and  the  estab- 
lishment there  of  the  two  religious  systems  with 
which  the  present-day  missionary  must  deal. 

Two  periods  of  Egyptian  history,  more  than 
all  others,  have  determined  the  religious  life  of 
Egypt  and  explain  to  us  the  present  existence,  in 
the  Nile  Valley,  of  both  the  Coptic  Church  and 
Islam.  Unfortunately,  there  is  a serious  lack  of 
acquaintance  with  these  two  important  periods 
of  Egyptian  history.  Books  on  Ancient  Egypt 
abound;  archaeology  has  almost  become  popu- 
larised. On  the  other  hand,  whole  libraries  of 
travel  exist  portraying  Modern  Egypt.  But  the 
Roman  Period  of  Egyptian  history  and  the 
Period  of  the  Middle  Ages  are  unfamiliar  terri- 
tory to  the  average  reader. 

The  first  of  the  two  periods  referred  to  extends 
from  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  Egypt 
to  the  Arab  invasion  and  covers  approximately 
the  first  six  centuries  of  the  Christian  era.  The 
second  period  begins  with  the  Arab  invasion  and 
brings  us  down  to  modern  times. 

ENTRANCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

There  is  a celebrated  picture  in  a London  gal- 
lery entitled  Anno  Domini.  It  represents  a pro- 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  15 


cession  of  the  Egyptian  gods.  In  the  midst  of 
singers  and  minstrels  and  damsels  playing  on  tim- 
brels, we  see  in  the  place  of  supreme  honour  the 
goddess  Isis,  with  Horus  upon  her  knee.  A 
humble  company — a peasant  leading  a donkey 
bearing  a woman  and  a child — meets  the  advanc- 
ing procession  and  stands  aside  to  let  it  pass. 
Thus  has  a master  painter  set  forth  the  flight 
from  Herod  and  the  entrance  of  the  Christ  Child 
into  Egypt.  It  was  only  a few  decades  later  that 
the  Gospel  of  this  same  Jesus  was  carried  to  the 
Nile  Valley.  The  story  of  its  rapid  triumph  is 
one  of  the  most  thrilling  chapters  of  Church  his- 
tory. To  properly  appreciate  it,  some  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Egypt  of  the  first  century  is  neces- 
sary. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  Egypt 
was  a Roman  province.  More  accurately,  it  was 
the  personal  domain  of  the  Roman  emperor  and 
was  governed  directly  by  officials  of  his  appoint- 
ment. Indeed,  no  member  of  the  Senate  was  al- 
lowed to  even  set  foot  in  the  country,  save  by 
special  permission  from  the  emperor. 

Three  distinct  races  inhabited  the  country,  and 
these  created  three  separate  communities  of  inter- 
est and  influence.  One  was  Egyptian,  the  other 
Greek,  and  the  other  Jewish.  Numerically,  the 
first  was,  of  course,  vastly  in  the  preponderance. 
To  a certain  extent  these  three  worlds  overlapped. 


i6  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


and  influenced  each  other,  but  for  the  most  part 
they  represented  different  races,  different  lan- 
guages, different  religions,  different  social  cus- 
toms, and  different  types  of  mind.  Each  of  these 
must  be  considered  in  turn. 

The  typically  Egyptian  world  of  the  first  cen- 
tury had  not  been  seriously  affected  by  Roman 
domination.  In  the  country  districts,  the  people 
placidly  followed  the  occupations,  social  customs, 
and  religious  practices  of  their  ancestors  in  the 
manner  of  their  ancestors.  The  papyri  of 
Oxyrynchos  throw  a flood  of  light  upon  life  in 
the  towns  and  villages  of  Egypt  during  the  period 
of  Roman  rule.  Agriculture,  then  as  now,  was 
the  chief  occupation,  and  corn  and  barley  were 
the  chief  crops.  The  weaving  of  linen  cloth  was 
the  most  common  industry  next  to  agriculture, 
and  receives  frequent  mention  in  the  papyri.  The 
ordinary  workman  and  farmer  lived  in  compara- 
tive poverty. 

The  religion  of  the  common  people  was  a de- 
generate type  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  religion. 
Much  of  this  was  pure  animal  worship.  In  the 
Faiyum,  for  example,  the  crocodile  god  was  wor- 
shipped; at  Memphis,  the  bull  Apis;  at  Oxyrhyn- 
chos,  a particular  Nile  fish;  at  Assiut,  the  wolf; 
at  Cynopolis,  the  dog. 

The  religious  temperament  of  the  Egyptian 
must  be  recognised,  however,  even  in  this  degra- 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  17 

dation  of  religion,  as  Herodotus,  in  his  time,  re- 
marked, The  Egyptians  are  exceedingly  god- 
fearing, more  than  all  other  peoples.”  “ One 
room  of  an  Egyptian  house,”  says  Georg  Stein- 
dorff,  “ would  contain  a small  chapel  with  an 
image  or  likeness  of  the  god,  where  the  family 
would  offer  prayer  and  sacrifice.  Outside  in  the 
streets  there  would  stand  little  shrines;  in  the 
fields  there  would  be  altars  on  which  the  husband- 
man would  deposit  his  offerings.  Ancient  Egypt 
probably  presented  an  aspect  like  that  of  a Cath- 
olic country  in  modern  Europe,  in  which  images 
of  saints  and  chapels  meet  us  at  every  step.”  It 
is  worth  noticing,  in  passing,  that  the  Egyptian 
type  of  mind  has  generally  led  to  the  practical  and 
ceremonial,  rather  than  to  the  philosophic,  in  re- 
ligion. There  was  also  at  this  time,  considerable 
sorcery  and  witchcraft  mixed  in  with  religion, 
owing  to  the  degenerate  religious  conditions  of 
Egyptian  life  in  the  first  century.  Of  the  moral 
state  of  society,  it  is  impossible  to  speak  definitely, 
but  a safe  inference  is  that  the  moral  life  of  the 
people  was  sadly  degraded,  save  as  checked  by 
the  operation  of  those  natural  laws  and  condi- 
tions of  rural  and  agricultural  life. 

The  Jewish  community  in  Egypt  was  of  no  in- 
considerable size  in  the  first  century.  There  had 
been  a steady  stream  of  emigration  of  Jews  from 
Palestine  to  Egypt  ever  since  the  days  of  Jere- 


1 8 IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


miah,  when  Johanan,  the  son  of  Kareah,  led  his 
company  of  Jews  down  into  Egypt,  to  Migdol 
and  Tahpanhes  and  Memphis  and  the  country  of 
Pethros.  Philo  tells  us  that  of  the  five  districts 
into  which  Alexandria  was  divided,  two  were 
known  as  Jewish.  He  also  says : “ The  Jews 
resident  in  Alexandria  and  in  the  country  from 
the  descent  to  Libya  back  to  the  bounds  of  Ethi- 
opia do  not  fall  short  of  a million.”  This  would 
give  the  Jews  one-seventh  or  even  one-eighth  of 
the  estimated  population  of  the  country. 

The  chief  settlement  of  Jews  was  at  Alexan- 
dria, but  there  seems  to  have  been  a colony  of 
them  near  the  fortress  of  Babylon,  north  of  Mem- 
phis, to  be  noticed  later  on.  At  Oxyrynchos, 
there  was  a Jewish  community  of  some  impor- 
tance. It  even  had  a Jews’  street.  Leontopolis, 
in  the  nome  of  Heliopolis,  was  famous  as  con- 
taining a Jewish  sanctuary,  the  only  one  outside 
of  Jerusalem  where  sacrifices  were  offered.  It 
was  closed  about  three  years  after  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem. 

Though  socially  and  religiously  exclusive, 
Judaism  in  Egypt  was  strongly  affected  by  Hel- 
lenistic influence.  The  use  of  the  Greek  language 
was  generally  adopted,  although  the  Jews  en- 
deavoured to  maintain  also  among  themselves  the 
Jewish  dialect.  The  Greek  language  was  used 
even  in  the  synagogue.  Jewish  writers  entered 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  19 

the  field  of  history,  of  philosophy,  and  even  of 
epic  and  dramatic  poetry. 

Judaism,  by  contact  with  the  world  and  by  its 
desire  to  fulfil  a religious  mission  to  the  world, 
was  being  forcibly  converted  into  a sort  of  mono- 
theistic propaganda,  to  which  were  linked  the  ad- 
ditional conceptions  of  moral  law  and  of  divine 
judgment.  Thus  Judaism  was  lifted  to  the  rank 
of  a philosophy.  Nowhere  would  and  nowhere 
did  such  a tendency  of  Judaism  manifest  itself  as 
in  the  Hellenistic  world  of  Alexandria.  Philo’s 
teachings  both  reveal  this  fact  and  give  us  some 
idea  of  the  trend  of  religious  thought  in  the  Jew- 
ish community  of  Alexandria.  Perhaps  even  in 
Alexandria  there  was  a conservative  Judaistic 
party,  such  as  existed  at  Jerusalem  and  such  as 
became  Paul’s  most  relentless  persecutors,  but 
that  party,  if  it  existed  at  all,  was  hopelessly  in 
the  minority.  The  dominant  school  of  Judaism 
in  Egypt  would  find  its  fair  exponent  in  such  a 
man  as  Philo,  who  sought  to  reconcile  Judaism 
with  Greek  philosophy  by  means  of  the  art  of  alle- 
gory in  the  interpretation  of  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures. 

There  is  one  other  development  of  Alexandrian 
Judaism  which  may  have  had  some  influence  upon 
Christianity  in  Egypt.  We  refer  to  the  ascetic 
tendencies  of  the  Therapeutae,  described  by  Philo 
in  his  “ De  Vita  Contemplativa.”  These  Jews 


20  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


settled  near  Lake  Mareotis  in  the  vicinity  of  Alex- 
andria. Each  member  of  the  brotherhood  lived 
‘‘  in  a separate  cell,  called  ‘ monasterium,’  in 
which  they  spent  their  time  in  mystic  devotion 
and  ascetic  practices,  and  particularly  in  the  study 
of  the  Torah  and  in  reciting  the  Psalms.  While 
remaining  in  retirement,  they  indulged  in  neither 
meat  nor  drink,  nor  any  other  enjoyment  of  the 
flesh.”  They  ate  only  after  sunset.  Some  ate 
twice  a week;  some  fasted  from  Sabbath  to 
Sabbath.  Women  were  admitted  into  the  order 
and  spent  their  time  caring  for  orphan  children 
and  in  listening  behind  a separating  wall  to  the 
Law  as  read  by  the  men  at  their  devotions.  In 
the  fourth  century,  ascetic  tendencies  entirely 
dominated  Christianity  in  Egypt,  and  these  early 
tendencies  in  Egyptian  Judaism  may  have  con- 
tributed germinally  to  such  a development  in 
Christianity. 

The  predominating  foreign  influence  in  Egypt, 
however,  was  Greek.  This  influence  had  been 
in  course  of  establishment  during  the  three  hun- 
dred years  which  intervened  between  the  con- 
quests of  Alexander  the  Great  and  the  establish- 
ment of  Roman  rule  in  30  b.c.  Neither  was 
there  much  cause  for  the  decline  of  Greek  influ- 
ence in  Egypt  after  the  close  of  the  Ptolemaic 
period,  for,  while  Augustus  deprived  the  Greek 
colony  at  Alexandria  of  their  Senate,  which  had 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  21 


symbolised  their  local  self-government,  for  the 
most  part  Roman  rule  did  little  to  limit  the  ex- 
tension of  Greek  influence. 

Alexandria  was  the  chief  city  of  the  Greeks, 
and  it  enjoyed  remarkable  fame  and  prestige.  It 
was  a world  centre  for  commerce  and  thought. 
The  trade  of  the  East  and  of  the  West  met  here, 
and  “ a large  part  of  the  thoughts  which  dominate 
the  world’s  views  in  philosophy,  religion  and 
science,  saw  the  light  in  Alexandria.”  Here  rose 
the  Pharos,  one  of  the  world’s  seven  wonders, 
a many-storied  tower  of  white  stone  and  marvel- 
lous construction,  said  to  have  been  590  feet  high, 
and  erected,  as  the  inscription  declared,  “ for  the 
salvation  of  navigators.”  More  important  still 
was  the  Museum,  a college  of  professors,  which 
drew  scholars  from  the  whole  world  and  became 
the  great  Eastern  university.  To  this  was  at- 
tached a great  library. 

The  fame  of  Alexandria  had  grown  steadily 
and  with  good  reason.  Its  site  was  well  chosen ; 
its  climate  was  salubrious;  its  buildings  were 
beautiful.  Here,  it  is  said,  Alexander  the  Great 
was  buried  in  his  golden  casket.  Here,  Euclid 
worked  out  his  “ Elements  of  Geometry.”  Here, 
Archimedes  investigated  the  most  abstruse  prob- 
lems in  geometry  and  mechanics.  Here,  the  brush 
was  wielded  by  one  who  carried  the  art  of  paint- 
ing to  such  perfection  that  men  coined  the  phrase 


22  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


“ the  art  of  Apelles,”  to  describe  the  faultless. 
Here,  Eratosthenes  achieved,  two  centuries  be- 
fore Christ,  his  greatest  astronomical  computa- 
tion in  determining  from  sun  shadows  the  ap- 
proximate circumference  of  the  earth.  And  as 
all  these  names  are  Greek,  they  testify  to  the  char- 
acter and  extent  of  Greek  influence  in  the  city  of 
Alexandria. 

Next  to  Alexandria,  the  largest  Greek  colony 
in  Egypt  was  at  Ptolemais  Hermiu,  which 
Strabo  describes  as  “ the  largest  town  in  Thebaid 
and  not  inferior  in  size  to  Memphis;  with  a con- 
stitution drawn  up  in  the  Hellenic  manner.”  This 
was  some  450  miles  south  of  Alexandria.  The 
inference  might  be  wrongly  drawn  that  Greek  in- 
fluence had  spread  over  the  whole  country  and 
penetrated  far  into  the  interior.  It  will  serve  as 
a corrective  to  remember  that  these  Greek  settle- 
ments were  only  trading  posts  or  government 
seats,  and  that  they  were  sharply  distinguished  in 
life  and  character  from  the  surrounding  native 
communities.  In  addition  to  these  two  important 
Greek  centres,  there  were,  also,  Naukratis,  in 
Lower  Egypt,  and  Oxyrynchos,  Herakleopolis, 
and  Hermopolis,  in  Upper  Egypt.  The  social 
life  of  these  Greek  communities  was  very  active. 

The  Greeks  also  imported  their  gods  into 
Egypt.  We  thus  find  coin  inscriptions  or  traces 
of  temples  and  altars,  dedicated  to  Zeus,  Kronos, 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  23 


Apollo,  Helios,  Athene,  and  Ares.  “ It  was 
much  more  common,  however,’’  says  Milne, 
when  the  Greeks  found  that  the  attributes  of  an 
Egyptian  god  resembled  those  of  a Greek,  for 
them  to  identify  the  two  and  unite  their  worship. 
Such  a tendency  was  nothing  foreign  either  to 
Egyptian  or  Greek  theology,  both  of  which  sys- 
tems had  pursued  this  process  of  identification 
from  the  earliest  times.  And  there  were  obvious 
advantages  in  the  economy  thus  effected,  espe- 
cially for  the  Greeks  who,  in  most  Egyptian  coun- 
try towns,  would  not  be  sufficiently  numerous  or 
sufficiently  wealthy  to  build  or  endow  a temple 
for  their  gods,  and  could  thus  simply  get  the  en- 
joyment of  the  existing  establishments.  It  is  not 
to  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  union  of  the 
deities  went  farther  than  their  names ; Pan  Khem 
was  still  Pan  to  the  Greek,  and  Khem  to  the 
Egyptians,  neither  race  really  assimilating  the  re- 
ligious conceptions  of  the  other.” 

We  are  not  greatly  concerned,  however,  with 
the  special  forms  of  idolatry  which  prevailed 
within  the  typically  Egyptian  world  or  among 
the  Greeks  of  Egypt  during  the  period  of  the  in- 
troduction of  Christianity.  Toward  idolatry, 
Christianity  joined  with  Judaism  in  presenting  an 
uncompromising  attitude  of  opposition.  It  was 
otherwise,  however,  with  Greek  philosophy  in 
Egypt.  As  Judaism  was  deeply  influenced  by 


24  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Hellenistic  philosophy,  so  was  Christianity  also  to 
be  influenced.  It  is  worth  while  noticing,  there- 
fore, the  trend  of  philosophic  thought  in  the 
Greek  world  of  Egypt,  and  especially  of  Alex- 
andria, during  the  first  century. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  we  find 
Alexandria  the  great  clearing-house  of  philo- 
sophic and  religious  ideas.  Here  the  East  and  the 
West  met.  Western  or  Greek  philosophy  was 
chiefly  represented  by  Platonism.  Other  streams 
of  religious  influence  had  their  sources  in  the 
East,  and  also  emptied  themselves  at  Alexandria, 
but  these  cannot  be  definitely  described,  nor  dis- 
tinguished from  each  other.  In  the  resultant  of 
these  varied  Eastern  religious  influences,  which 
has  been  designated  as  “ Orientalism,”  we  find 
traces  of  myth  stories  and  metaphysical  distinc- 
tions which  are  easily  attributable  to  Indian  ori- 
gin; practical  and  utilitarian  conceptions  of  mo- 
rality which  might  go  back  to  Chinese  parentage ; 
a strong  emphasis  upon  immortality  and  a future 
moral  judgment,  which  is  certainly  characteristic 
of  Egyptian  religious  thought;  and  especially  the 
sharp  antithesis  of  spirit  and  matter,  and  their 
mutual  conflict  both  in  individual  experience  and 
in  an  eternal  universe,  which  savours  of  Persian 
origin.  Greek  philosophy  met  and  sought  to  as- 
similate this  “ Orientalism.”  The  result  pro- 
duced at  Alexandria  a sort  of  religious  and  philo- 


ST.  BARBARA  COPTIC  CHURCH 


CHURCH  OF  BABYLON  IN  OLD  CAIRO 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  25 

sophic  pot-pourri,  which  is  usually  referred  to  as 
**  syncretism,”  the  final  form  of  Hellenism  and 
the  form  of  Hellenism  that  Christianity  had  to 
deal  with.  The  soul,  God,  knowledge,  expia- 
tion, asceticism,  redemption,  eternal  life,  with  in- 
dividualism and  with  humanity  substituted  for 
nationality, — these,”  says  Harnack,  “ were  the 
sublime  thoughts  which  were  living  and  opera- 
tive, partly  as  the  precipitate  of  deep  inward  and 
outward  movements,  partly  as  the  outcome  of 
great  souls  and  their  toil,  partly  as  one  result  of 
the  sublimation  of  all  cults  which  took  place  dur- 
ing the  imperial  age.” 

Into  one  or  more  of  these  three  worlds  of 
thought  and  life,  which  existed  side  by  side  in 
Egypt  and  yet  were  in  a measure  distinct  from 
each  other,  came  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  traditional  account  of  the  founding  of  the 
Christian  Church  in  Egypt  is  worth  narrating 
here. 

Mark  is  the  reputed  founder  of  the  Church  in 
Egypt.  His  first  visit  to  Egypt  was  in  the  fifth 
decade  of  the  Christian  era.  He  was  accom- 
panied by  Peter.  They  made  their  way  past  Heli- 
opolis to  the  Jewish  colony  at  Babylon  well 
known  in  history.  It  was  from  here  that  Peter 
wrote  his  Epistle,  whose  concluding  section  says. 

She  that  is  in  Babylon,  elect  together  with  you, 
saluteth  you.”  Soon  after,  Peter  returned  to 


26  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Palestine,  sending  Mark  to  Alexandria.  Mark’s 
first  convert  in  Alexandria  v^as  one  Annianus,  a 
shoemaker  by  trade.  Others  also  accepted  the 
gospel  which  Mark  preached.  When  Mark  re- 
turned to  Palestine,  he  consecrated  Annianus  first 
bishop  of  the  new  church,  with  three  priests  and 
seven  deacons  as  assistants.  After  the  separa- 
tion of  Paul  and  Barnabas,  Mark  laboured  with 
Barnabas  for  a short  time,  but  ultimately  re- 
turned to  Alexandria.  Tradition  points  in  the 
main  to  his  remaining  here  until  his  martyrdom 
in  about  62  a.d.,  the  eighth  year  of  Nero,  when 
he  fell  a victim  to  an  outbreak  of  pagan  fanati- 
cism. He  was  buried  in  the  church  of  Baucalia, 
where  for  centuries  the  election  of  Alexandrian 
patriarchs  took  place. 

It  is  impossible  to  vouch  for  the  historicity  of 
this  account  of  Mark’s  life  and  labours  in  Egypt. 
The  first  mention  of  Mark  as  the  founder  of  the 
Church  in  Egypt  is  by  Eusebius.  Writing  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  he  refers  this 
story  to  an  indefinite  tradition : The  same  Mark, 

they  also  say,  being  the  first  that  was  sent  to 
Egypt,  proclaimed  the  gospel  there  which  he  had 
written,  and  first  established  churches  at  the  city 
of  Alexandria.”  After  the  time  of  Eusebius, 
notices  of  Mark’s  work  in  Egypt  are  frequent. 
If  we  give  credence  to  the  tradition  recorded  by 
Eusebius,  we  have  difficulty  in  explaining  the 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  27 


failure  of  either  Clement  or  Origen  to  refer  to 
this  interesting  fact  of  Church  history,  one  hun- 
dred years  before  the  time  of  Eusebius.  In  any 
case  while  Eusebius  makes  Mark  the  founder  of 
the  Christian  Church  in  Egypt,  he  dates  Peter’s 
epistle  from  Rome,  which  is  contrary  to  the  re- 
maining claims  of  Egyptian  tradition. 

In  180  A.D.  (the  episcopate  of  Demetrius), 
the  Alexandrian  Church  appears  in  the  daylight 
of  history.  “ It  is  then  a stately  church  with  that 
school  of  higher  learning  attached  to  it  by  means 
of  which  its  influence  was  to  be  diffused  and  its 
fame  borne  far  and  wide.” 

Certain  inferences  are  possible  which  are  inter- 
esting, and  reasonably,  if  not  entirely,  certain, 
with  reference  to  early  Christianity  in  Egypt. 

1.  Christianity  was  introduced  into  Egypt  at 
a very  early  date.  The  dates  variously  assigned 
by  Eusebius  are  40  and  43  a.d.  This  would  be 
contemporary  with  Paul’s  labours  in  Antioch. 
Such  an  early  introduction  of  Christianity  into 
Egypt  is  indeed  probable.  The  journey  from 
Jerusalem  to  Alexandria  was  a short  one,  and 
both  commercial  and  religious  interchanges  be- 
tween the  two  cities  were  frequent.  We  also 
read  of  “ dwellers  in  Egypt,”  who  witnessed  the 
miracle  of  Pentecost  (Acts  2:10). 

2.  The  gospel  probably  found  its  first  entrance 
into  Egypt  by  way  of  the  Jewish  colony.  This 


28  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


indeed  would  be  a natural  supposition,  unless 
there  were  evidence  to  the  contrary.  If  the  tradi- 
tion which  makes  Mark  the  founder  of  the  Church 
in  Egypt  be  reliable,  we  have  additional  support 
for  this  supposition,  for,  judging  both  from  his 
family  ties  and  from  what  we  actually  know  of 
his  career  elsewhere,  Mark,  in  his  missionary  ac- 
tivities, would  turn  naturally  to  the  Jews. 

3.  Upon  the  foregoing  supposition  we  may  as- 
sume that  the  liberal  tendencies  of  Judaism  in 
Egypt  would  afford  this  new  faith,  whose  Jewish 
parentage  was  generally  conceded,  a favourable 
field  for  its  establishment.  Nay,  we  can  almost 
believe  that  this  new  gospel  would  be  welcomed. 
Without  asking  him  to  break  with  the  historic 
past  of  Judaism  or  straining  his  interpretation  of 
Scriptures,  as  did  Philo,  this  gospel  relieved  the 
Hellenistic  Jew  of  the  feeling,  which  every  true 
Jew  of  the  Diaspora  felt  more  or  less  keenly,  that 
he  was  disqualified  because  cut  off  from  the  local 
sanctuary  and  ceremonial  centre  of  the  faith  at 
Jerusalem. 

If  the  gospel  presented  attractions  to  the  Jew, 
the  Jewish  colony,  with  its  position  of  influence, 
its  wealth,  its  learning,  and  its  numerical  strength, 
opened  a great  door  of  opportunity  to  the  nascent 
religion  of  the  Nazarene.  “ It  is  purely  a con- 
jecture, although  perhaps  a correct  conjecture,” 
says  Harnack,  “ that  more  Jews  were  converted 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  29 


to  Christianity  in  the  Nile  Valley  than  anywhere 
else.”  When  we  recall  that  one-seventh  or  one- 
eighth  of  the  population  of  the  country  was  Jew- 
ish, we  realise  what  possibilities  for  the  rapid 
establishment  of  Christianity  in  Egypt,  are  to  be 
found  here. 

4.  From  the  Jews  the  gospel  passed  to  the 
Greek  world.  This  would  follow  from  the  fact 
that  Greeks  and  Jews  mingled  freely  in  philo- 
sophic and  literary  pursuits.  Furthermore,  Chris- 
tianity could  not  enter  the  world  of  letters  at 
Alexandria  without  coming  into  touch  with  the 
Greeks.  That  it  did,  at  an  early  date,  associate 
itself  with  learning,  we  know,  for  at  the  close  of 
the  second  century  a.d.  there  was  a Christian 
school  or  college  frequented  by  pagans  as  well 
as  by  Christians.  These  pagans  must  have  been 
Greeks. 

We  may  also  believe  that  the  Greek  mind  rather 
caught  at  the  philosophic  import  of  the  new  faith, 
than  experienced  it  as  “ the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation.”  The  whole  Gnostic  movement  was 
born,  or,  at  least,  given  character,  by  the  contact 
of  Hellenism  with  Christianity,  and  we  know  how 
extensive  this  movement  was.  Valentinus,  whom 
Epiphanius  names  as  an  early  Christian  heretic, 
was  apparently  a Greek.  From  all  this  we  can 
safely  infer  that  the  gospel  was  not  limited,  even 
in  the  earliest  years,  to  the  Jewish  world  of  Alex- 


30  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


andria,  but  that  it  entered  also,  for  better  or  for 
worse,  into  the  Greek  world  of  Alexandria  and 
Egypt. 

5.  We  may  infer  that,  ere  long,  the  gospel 
found  its  way  into  the  typically  Egyptian  world. 
This  did  not  probably  occur  until  some  years  after 
it  had  been  introduced  into  Egypt,  for  the  Egyp- 
tian world  was  farthest  removed  from  the  Jewish 
world.  The  proof  that  Egyptians  came  under 
Christian  influences  even  in  this  early  period  lies 
in  two  directions.  First,  there  is  a record  of  the 
existence  of  a gospel  described  as  the  gospel 
according  to  the  Egyptians.”  This  would  be  in 
contradistinction  to  the  Jews  and  Greeks.  Then, 
the  expansion  of  Christianity  in  the  Nile  Valley 
during  the  first  two  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era,  was  already  such  as  to  require  its  extension 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  Jewish  and  Greek  worlds 
to  the  Egyptian  world,  which  constituted,  after 
all,  the  greater  part  of  the  population  living  in 
the  Nile  Valley.  In  some  respects,  this  entrance 
of  Christianity  into  the  typically  Egyptian  world 
would  be  easy.  The  degeneracy  of  the  old 
Egyptian  religion  was  now  patent,  and  Egyptian 
morals  called  for  such  a corrective  as  Christianity 
could  offer.  On  the  other  hand,  there  was  dan- 
ger lest  the  Osirian  mysticism  and  the  empty 
ceremonialism  of  the  Egyptian  religion  would 
attach  itself  to  this  new  faith. 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  31 

6.  Another  statement  can  be  made  with  refer- 
ence to  early  Christianity  m Egypt,  which  is  more 
than  a mere  inference:  Its  growth  was  phenom- 
enal. 

Clement  tells  us  that,  in  his  time  (c.  200  a.d.), 
Christianity  counted  its  adherents  among  all 
classes  and  ranks,  and  that  it  had  spread  to 
every  nation  and  village  and  town.”  This  last 
is,  naturally,  a somewhat  general  statement,  but 
it  reflects  the  spread  of  Christianity  in  Egypt. 
Eusebius  speaks  of  Christians  “ from  Egypt  and 
all  the  Thebais  ” who  were  martyred  in  the  reign 
of  Septimus  Severus  (202  A.D.).  While  else- 
where in  his  writings  we  find  references  showing 
communities  to  have  existed  in  a larger  portion 
of  Lower  Egypt,  also  in  the  Faiyum,  also  in 
Upper  Egypt,  and  over  in  Pentapolis.  This  is 
indeed  a remarkable  record.  What  these  histori- 
cal and  geographical  references  mean  in  the  mat- 
ter of  numbers  is  only  a matter  of  conjecture,  but 
Harnack,  surveying  conditions  in  Egypt  at  the 
close  of  the  third  century,  ventures  the  statement, 
“ Certain  it  is,  however,  that  the  Christians  had 
long  ago  outstripped  the  Jews  numerically,  and 
by  the  opening  of  the  fourth  century,  they  were 
over  a million  strong.” 

A number  of  factors  entered  into  this  rapid 
spread  of  Christianity  in  Egypt.  The  favouring 
existence  of  a strong  and  influential  Jewish  col- 


32  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  TFIE  NILE 


ony  in  Egypt,  and  the  liberal  character  of  Egyp- 
tian Judaism  which  would  make  the  Egyptian 
Jew  more  open-minded  in  his  consideration  of  the 
claims  of  the  gospel,  have  both  been  noted.  Men- 
tion has  been  made  of  the  decline  of  the  old 
Egyptian  worship,  thus  weakening  the  resistance 
which  it  might  offer  to  the  new  faith  within  the 
limits  of  the  typically  Egyptian  world.  Taking 
account  of  the  alert  philosophic  attitude  of  the 
Greek  world,  its  effort  to  find  some  answer  to  the 
questions  which  were  pressing  upon  it,  one  can 
imagine  the  interest  which  it  would  have  even 
speculatively  in  the  new  gospel.  Certainly,  in  all 
these  facts,  Egypt  presented  a promising  field 
for  the  rapid  spread  of  Christianity. 

Still,  the  conquering  power  of  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  must  not  be  explained  away  by  any 
superficial  rationalism.  Beneath  all  surface 
affinities  which  may  be  pointed  out,  there  ever  lies 
the  deep,  ineradicable  contradiction  between  the 
natural  and  the  spiritual.  To  the  Egyptian,  to 
the  Greek,  and  even  to  the  Jew,  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  must  needs  have  come — if  it  came 
at  all  truly — by  way  of  the  crucifying  of  the  old 
man,  the  mortifying  of  the  old  nature. 

Credit  for  the  rapid  extension  of  Christianity 
must,  therefore,  be  given  to  the  power  of  God 
working  mightily,  both  directly  on  the  hearts  of 
men  and  indirectly  through  the  lives  of  those 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  33 

who  had  been  won  to  Christ.  Here  it  is  that  we 
have  to  reckon  with  the  missionary  spirit  of  this 
early  age. 

One  order  in  the  Church  of  Egypt  enjoys  an 
enviable  distinction  for  missionary  zeal.  It  was 
the  order  of  didaskaloi  or  teachers.  That  these 
constituted  a clearly  recognised  order  is  abun- 
dantly proved.  Dionysius  of  Alexandria  is  repre- 
sented as  saying,  “ I called  together  the  presby- 
ters and  teachers  of  the  brethren  in  the  villages.'' 
At  Alexandria,  these  teachers  rallied  about  the 
Catechetical  School.  Pantaenus,  the  first-mem- 
tioned  head  of  this  school,  himself  a teacher, 
went,  as  we  know,  on  a missionary  journey  to 
“ India  " ; this  may  mean  Arabia.  Nor  ought 
the  missionary  services  of  Origen  to  be  forgotten, 
both  as  he  influenced  the  pagan  population  of 
Alexandria,  or  as  he  visited  Arabia,  or  travelled 
to  and  fro  between  Egypt,  Syria,  Cappadocia, 
Greece,  and  Italy.  It  is  a pleasing  picture  which 
is  thus  presented  of  the  Church’s  earliest  and 
ablest  theologians  going  forth  on  aggressive  mis- 
sionary errands  for  the  extension  and  establish- 
ment of  the  faith  in  foreign  lands.  The  experi- 
ence must  have  given  a new  note  of  reality  to  the 
truths  these  professors  were  formulating,  while 
the  value  of  their  services  must  also  have  been 
great  to  the  communities  they  visited.  It  was  a 
discriminating  recognition  on  the  part  of  the  early 


34  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Church  of  the  truth  which  our  modern  mission- 
aries are  ever  emphasising,  that  it  takes  “ a wise 
masterbuilder  ” to  lay  “ a foundation  ” for  the 
Christian  faith  in  a foreign  land. 

However,  there  was  another  agency  for  the 
propagation  of  the  faith,  an  agency  which  was 
more  potent  as  it  was  also  more  extensive, — we 
refer  to  the  rank  and  file  of  those  who  consti- 
tuted the  infant  Church.  This  truth  cannot  be 
stated  more  forcibly,  clearly,  and  authoritatively, 
than  it  is  stated  by  Harnack : “ The  most  numer- 
ous and  successful  missionaries  of  the  Christian 
religion  were  not  the  regular  teachers,  but  Chris- 
tians themselves,  by  dint  of  their  loyalty  and 
courage.  How  little  we  hear  of  the  former  and 
their  results!  how  much  of  the  effects  produced 
by  the  latter!  Above  all,  every  confessor  and 
martyr  was  a missionary;  he  not  merely  con- 
firmed the  faith  of  those  who  were  already  won, 
but  also  enlisted  new  members  by  his  testimony 
and  his  death. 

“ Nevertheless,  it  was  not  merely  the  confess- 
ors and  martyrs  who  were  missionaries.  It 
was  characteristic  of  this  religion  that  every  one 
who  seriously  confessed  the  faith  proved  of  serv- 
ice to  its  propaganda.  Christians  are  to  let  their 
light  shine,  that  pagans  may  see  their  good  works 
and  glorify  the  Father  in  heaven. 

“We  cannot  hesitate  to  believe  that  the  great 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  35 

mission  of  Christianity  was  in  reality  accom- 
plished by  means  of  informal  missionaries.” 

PERIOD  OF  DEVELOPMENT 

We  now  leave  the  period  of  the  first  introduc- 
tion and  establishment  of  Christianity  in  Egypt. 
The  next  two  hundred  and  fifty  years — from  the 
close  of  the  second  century  to  the  Council  of  Chal- 
cedon — are  years  of  development,  alas,  not  of 
healthy  development,  but  of  development,  and 
we  may  say  that  at  the  close  of  this  period  the 
Church  in  Egypt  had  determined,  in  a fixed  and 
settled  way,  her  national  character. 

Only  the  briefest  sort  of  survey  of  this  period 
is  possible.  At  the  beginning  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, Christianity  in  Egypt  suffered  from  the 
persecution  of  Severus,  and  the  School  at  Alex- 
andria was  closed  while  the  martyrs  witnessed  to 
the  truth  with  their  lives.  Among  those  who 
thus  died  was  Leonides,  the  father  of  the  great 
Origen. 

Origen  himself,  though  but  a boy,  came  into 
prominence  through  his  remarkable  intellectual 
powers.  He  was  appointed  head  of  the  School 
at  Alexandria  during  these  troublous  times.  This 
made  him  a mark  for  the  hatred  of  the  pagan 
populace,  but  his  ready  wit  and  even  temper  car- 
ried him  safely  through  many  dangers.  “ Epi- 
phanius  relates  that  one  day  the  mob  seized  him 


36  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


in  the  street  and  bore  him  in  a tempestuous  pro- 
cession to  the  great  temple  of  Serapis.  Here,  by 
main  force,  but  apparently  without  real  violence, 
they  gave  him  the  tonsure  (of  the  pagan  priest- 
hood), clothed  him  in  the  white  robe  of  a priest 
of  the  temple,  and  then  brought  him  out  and  held 
him  on  the  top  of  the  great  flight  of  steps.  Here 
they  bade  him  distribute  the  palms  to  the  throng 
of  idol  worshippers,  who  laughed  and  applauded 
below.  Origen  took  the  palm  branches  and 
offered  them  to  the  people,  crying  aloud,  as  he  did 
so,  ‘ Come  and  receive  the  palms,  not  of  idols,  but 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.’  It  is  a pleasant  scene 
to  dwell  upon  in  that  gloomy  and  painful  time: 
the  great  temple  fortress  dark  against  the  blue 
of  an  Egyptian  sky;  the  court  below,  full  of  the 
laughing,  hooting,  many-coloured  Oriental  mob; 
the  majestic  flight  of  steps,  swarming  with  more 
insistent  pagans,  ladened  with  the  graceful 
branches;  and  in  the  midst  of  them  that  one 
youthful  figure  with  the  strong  sunlight  on  his 
white  robe  and  smiling  face,  holding  up  the  palm 
and  striking  silence  on  the  crowd  with  his  clear, 
dauntless  call  to  the  worship  of  Christ.” 

The  extended  writings  of  Origen,  the  philo- 
sophic tendencies  that  characterised  his  theology, 
his  indefatigable  journeys,  in  short,  the  life  and 
work  of  this  famous  man  are  subjects  for  special 
treatises  elsewhere  and  cannot  be  touched  on  here. 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  37 

It  is  worth  emphasising,  however,  that  the  name 
and  fame  of  Origen  rightfully  form  a part  of  the 
story  of  the  Church  in  Egypt,  whose  fame  is  too 
often  obscured  or  forgotten. 

At  this  time,  Neo-Platonism  exerted  a strong 
influence  in  Egypt,  for  Plotinus  flourished  in 
Lycopolis  (now  Assiut).  The  ascetic  tendencies, 
which  appeared  in  Origen’s  life,  but  from  which 
he  escaped  in  later  years,  found  more  pronounced 
expression  before  long  in  the  monastic  move- 
ments of  Paul,  the  hermit,  and  shortly  after,  of 
St.  Anthony  and  St.  Ammon. 

It  is  worth  noticing,  as  indicating  the  leading 
position  which  the  Church  in  Egypt  held  in  the 
Christendom  of  this  period,  that  the  Novatian 
heresy — ^that  to  recant  is  an  unpardonable  sin — 
was  referred  to  the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria  for 
settlement.  Yet  the  power  of  Rome  was  steadily 
growing,  and  the  day  was  not  far  off  when  this 
primacy  of  the  Egyptian  Church,  implicitly  if  not 
explicitly  admitted  hitherto,  would  be  disputed. 

A persecution  of  Christians  under  Valerian 
which  lasted  somewhat  over  three  years,  together 
with  plague  and  political  unrest,  must  have 
hampered  the  progress  of  Christianity  in  Egypt. 

In  the  closing  years  of  the  third  century  a re- 
volt occurred  in  Egypt,  under  one  Archilleus, 
whom  some  make  a Roman  and  others  declare  to 
have  been  a Christian  Egyptian.  The  rebellion 


38  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


was  a stubborn  one  and  required  the  personal  at- 
tention of  the  emperor,  Diocletian,  together  with 
a siege  and  assault  of  Alexandria,  before  its  sup- 
pression was  accomplished. 

A few  years  later,  there  broke  out  that  perse- 
cution which  made  the  name  of  Diocletian  in- 
famous, although  the  intensity  of  the  persecution 
may  be  attributed  to  Galerius,  his  son-in-law  and 
successor.  The  persecution  was  so  severe  as  to 
cause  the  period  of  its  continuance  to  be  called 
the  Era  of  Martyrs.  The  edict  went  forth  that 
all  churches  were  to  be  demolished,  all  sacred 
books  burned,  all  Christians  in  official  positions 
ejected  from  office.  The  following  quotation 
from  Eusebius  will  give  some  conception  of  the 
sorrows  of  the  Egyptian  Church  during  this 
period : 

“ It  would  exceed  all  powers  of  detail  to  give 
an  idea  of  the  sufferings  and  tortures  which  the 
martyrs  of  Thebais  endured.  These  had  their 
bodies  scraped  with  shells  instead  of  hooks,  and 
were  mangled  in  this  way  until  they  died.  Women 
tied  by  one  foot  and  then  raised  in  the  air  by  cer- 
tain machines  ....  presented  this  most  foul, 
cruel,  and  inhuman  spectacle  to  all  beholders; 
others,  again,  perished,  bound  to  trees  and 
branches,  for,  drawing  the  stoutest  of  the 
branches  together  by  machines  for  this  purpose, 
and  binding  the  limbs  of  the  martyrs  to  each  of 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  39 


these,  they  then  let  loose  the  boughs  to  resume 
their  natural  position,  designing  thus  to  produce 
a violent  action  to  tear  asunder  the  limbs  of  those 
whom  they  thus  treated.  And  all  these  things 
were  doing  not  only  for  a few  days  or  some  time, 
but  for  a series  of  whole  years.  At  one  time  ten 
or  more,  at  another  time  more  than  twenty,  at 
another  time  not  less  than  thirty  and  even  sixty, 
and  again  at  another  time  a hundred  men  with 
their  wives  and  little  children  were  slain  in  one 
day.’’ 

From  this  Era  of  Martyrs,  the  Coptic  Church 
reckons  time,  using,  however,  the  first  year  of 
Diocletian  (284  a.d.)  as  the  actual  starting 
point.  Thus  the  year  1908  a.d.  is  the  year  1624 
in  the  Coptic  calendar. 

Constantine’s  accession  to  the  throne,  in  324, 
brought  a happy  relief  to  the  persecuted  Egyptian 
Church,  and,  from  this  time  on,  Christianity  may 
be  regarded  as  the  dominant  religion  in  Egypt. 

The  Church  in  Egypt  was  indeed  being  sorely 
tried,  for  the  distractions  of  persecutions  which 
now  ceased  only  gave  place  to  distractions  of 
heresy.  The  Arian  controversy  began  to  disturb 
Christendom  and  had  its  beginnings  in  Egypt. 
A grave  presbyter  of  Alexandria,  upright  in  char- 
acter to  the  point  of  austerity,  seeking  to  defend 
himself  against  the  heathen  charge  that  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine  of  the  Trinity  was  polytheistic,  be- 


40  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 

came  entangled  in  the  heresy  which  finally  took 
his  name,  Arianism.  He  denied  the  deity  of 
Christ,  and  was,  therefore,  the  forerunner  of  the 
Unitarian  of  to-day.  The  Patriarch  of  Alexan- 
dria was  unable  to  reclaim  the  young  man,  and, 
after  repeated  conferences,  excommunicated  him. 
Thus  arose  the  great  Arian  controversy,  which 
called  into  being  the  first  of  the  famous  Ecumeni- 
cal Councils,  that  of  Nicea,  in  325  a.d. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  follow  the  movements 
of  this  great  discussion.  It  is  enough,  in  this  con- 
nection, to  remind  ourselves  that  the  Egyptian 
Church,  while  she  had  furnished  the  world  with 
the  leader  of  the  heretical  movement,  herself  dis- 
claimed his  views,  and  by  way  of  amends,  fur- 
nished Christendom  with  a defender  of  the  faith 
whose  loyalty  to  the  deity  of  Christ  outlasted  a 
half-century  of  bitter  controversy,  caused  him  to 
endure  exile  five  times,  and  finally  won  back 
Christendom  to  the  truth. 

The  significance  of  the  Arian  controversy  to 
the  Church  in  Egypt  lies  in  quite  another  direc- 
tion than  that  of  doctrine.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  shortly  after  the  Council  of  Nicea,  the  em- 
peror himself  fell  under  Arian  influences.  He 
then  sought  to  secure  for  Arius  by  power  and 
authority  what  he  saw  could  not  be  secured  by 
Ecumenical  Council, — the  restoration  of  Arius  to 
the  priesthood.  The  firm  refusal  of  Athanasius, 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  41 


now  Patriarch  of  the  Egyptian  Church,  to  accede 
to  this,  led  to  his  displacement  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  an  Arian  Patriarch.  The  great  body  of 
the  Church  in  Egypt,  however,  refused  to  recog- 
nise the  imperial  candidate  and  stood  loyally  by 
Athanasius.  A significant  religious  conflict  fol- 
lowed. The  emperor’s  appointment  led  to  the 
creation  of  a new  line  of  patriarchs,  rival  to  the 
Egyptian  patriarchate,  and  deriving  its  authority 
and  support  from  Constantinople.  It  led  also 
to  the  establishment  in  Egypt  of  a Church,  rival 
to  the  Egyptian  Church,  called  the  Melkite 
Church,  and  surviving  even  to-day  in  the  Greek- 
Orthodox  sect  in  Egypt.  The  effects  of  this  con- 
flict were  deplorable  for  the  cause  of  true  Chris- 
tianity in  Egypt.  The  Egyptian  Church  was 
drawn  into  conflict  with  the  political  power  of 
the  emperor,  and  was  led  into  a sphere  of  politi- 
cal activity  which  undermined  her  spiritual  life. 
A bitter  rivalry  sprang  up  between  the  Church 
of  Egypt  and  the  Church  at  Constantinople.  The 
maintenance  of  her  ecclesiastical  primacy  in 
Christendom  became  the  supreme  thought  of  the 
Egyptian  Church;  on  almost  every  occasion  this 
issue  was  raised.  After  Athanasius  had  passed 
away,  the  Egyptian  Church  lapsed  seriously  and 
Church  leadership  came  into  the  hands  of  dog- 
matic and  self-assertive  men. 

Disappointed  and  disheartened  by  the  earlier 


42  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


persecutions  and  now  by  these  internal  dissen- 
sions, the  best  spirits  of  the  Egyptian  Church 
were  carried  away  by  the  wave  of  Monasticism 
which  swept  the  country.  Were  it  not  for  the  testi- 
mony of  contemporary  writers,  it  would  be  hard 
to  believe  the  extent  to  which  the  population  be- 
came monks  and  nuns.  Of  course,  many  of  these 
were  actuated  by  low  and  false  motives,  but  the 
retirement  of  the  others  was  a disastrous  loss  to 
the  Egyptian  nation  and  the  Church.  The  con- 
ception of  the  Christian  life  which  now  prevailed 
was  flight  from  the  Vv^orld  rather  than  victory 
over  the  world. 

It  was  about  this  time — as  the  readers  of 
Kingsley’s  “ Hypatia  ” will  remember — that  the 
temple  of  Serapis  at  Alexandria  was  destroyed 
by  order  of  the  emperor,  but  under  the  supervision 
of  the  Patriarch.  It  was  with  superstitious  awe 
and  fear  that  the  Christian  populace  and  the  Alex- 
andrian soldiery  wended  their  way  into  the  inmost 
shrine  from  which,  for  six  hundred  years,  the 
great  god  had  ruled  Egypt.  Not  till  one  of  the 
soldiers  had  struck  the  statue,  and  the  head  of  the 
god  rolled  to  the  ground,  and  out  of  the  trunk 
leaped  a colony  of  frightened  mice,  not  till  then 
did  the  crowd  feel  reassured. 

In  the  early  half  of  the  fifth  century,  there  ap- 
peared that  heresy  which  cut  the  Egyptian  Church 
off  from  the  rest  of  Christendom.  It  is  called 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  43 


the  Monophysite  heresy.  It  came  as  a reaction 
from  another  heresy,  the  Nestorian.  Nestorius 
had  asserted  that  the  two  natures  of  Christ,  the 
human  and  the  divine,  were  so  separate  and  dis- 
tinct as  to  prevent  one  nature  from  qualifying 
the  acts  of  the  other  nature.  The  Council  of 
Ephesus  condemned  this  heresy  and  asserted  the 
unity  of  the  two  natures  of  Christ.  Such  em- 
phasis, however,  was  laid  upon  this  unity  of  the 
two  natures,  that  the  Egyptian  Patriarch,  Dios- 
corus,  went  one  step  farther,  and  declared  that  in 
the  incarnation  the  human  nature  was  transmuted 
into  the  divine  and  the  result  was  one  person  with 
one  nature.  This  is  called  the  Monophysite 
heresy,  and  is  in  contradiction  to  the  guarded 
statement  of  the  Shorter  Catechism  which  de- 
clares that  Jesus  Christ,  “ being  the  eternal  Son 
of  God,  became  man,  in  two  distinct  natures  and 
one  person  forever.” 

The  position  of  the  Egyptian  Church  was  con- 
demned by  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  and  the 
Egyptian  Patriarch  was  excommunicated  as  a 
heretic.  Reading  between  the  lines  in  the  record 
of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  we  cannot  help  feel- 
ing that  the  heat  of  discussion  was  generated,  not 
so  much  by  fires  of  theological  conviction,  as  by 
fires  of  passion  for  ecclesiastical  supremacy.  The 
Egyptian  Church  had  arrayed  against  her  the 
united  influence  of  the  Church  of  Rome  and  the 


44  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 

Church  at  Constantinople;  the  decision  of  the 
Council  meant  the  overthrow  of  the  primacy  of 
the  Egyptian  Church,  as  well  as  the  safeguarding 
of  a correct  definition  concerning  the  person  of 
Christ. 


DECAY  OF  CHRISTIAN  MOVEMENT 

At  this  point  we  stop  in  our  sketch  of 
events  in  the  Church  in  Egypt,  for  we  have 
reached  that  point  in  the  Church’s  development 
where  her  doctrine,  organisation,  and  spirit  are 
no  longer  subject  to  radical  change  but  remain 
fixed.  The  events  of  succeeding  centuries  affect 
the  condition  but  not  the  character  of  the  Church 
in  Egypt.  The  latter  remains  practically  un- 
changed through  the  remaining  200  years  of  Byz- 
antine rule,  through  the  Arab  invasion,  through 
the  more  than  twelve  hundred  years  of  Moslem 
domination  which  followed,  down  to  the  present 
time. 

We  do  not  need  therefore  to  await  the  coming 
of  Islam  to  ask  why  the  Church  in  Egypt, — we 
will  not  say,  Christianity  in  Egypt, — failed.  Its 
failure  consisted  not  in  its  allowance  of  Arab 
domination  in  Egypt.  Christian  people  have  suf- 
fered political  enslavement.  It  might  easily  have 
been  beyond  the  Christian  Church  in  Egypt  to 
resist  an  Arab  invasion  from  a political  point  of 
view,  but  that  does  not  excuse  its  inability  to  yet 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  45 

conquer,  by  its  life,  by  its  essential  truth,  by  its 
loyalty  to  its  own  faith,  and  by  its  assimilating 
and  missionary  power,  the  new  political  masters 
of  Egypt.  The  charge  stands  that  the  Church  in 
Egypt  was  a comparatively  dead,  lifeless  thing, 
or  her  expanding  and  conquering  power  would 
not  and  could  not  have  been  stayed. 

Of  the  tendencies  and  influences  which  vitiated 
the  Christian  movement  in  Egypt  and  caused  the 
downfall  and  degradation  of  the  Egyptian 
Church,  six  are  especially  conspicuous : 

I.  Ecclesiasticism.  The  development  of 
Church  organisation  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Episcopate  are  subjects  for  extended  discussion 
elsewhere.  Here  we  only  wish  to  emphasise  the 
early  appearance  in  the  Church  in  Egypt  of  an 
arbitrary,  and  sometimes  even  tyrannical  exercise 
of  Church  authority,  which  injected  an  unspirit- 
ual note  into  Egyptian  Christianity,  that  ulti- 
mately proved  its  undoing.  Was  this  borrowed 
from  some  spirit  of  officialism  and  tyranny  in 
the  close  and  rigid  organisation  of  early  Juda- 
ism ? Or  did  it  come  from  such  a spirit  dominat- 
ing the  whole  political  government  of  the  country, 
from  the  prefect  down  to  the  sub-officials  of  a 
village?  Or  was  it  a tendency  natural  to  a race 
that  had  long  since  lost,  through  oppression,  the 
self-restraint  which  a governing  body  requires? 
These  questions  cannot  be  answered.  The  fact 


46  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


of  this  spirit  of  intolerance  and  officialism  in  the 
exercise  of  ecclesiastical  authority  is  abundantly 
evidenced.  We  see  it  in  the  contentions  which 
arose  between  Origen  and  Patriarch  Deme- 
trius, in  the  prolonged  rivalry  between  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Church  in  Egypt,  which  developed 
into  a conflict  for  centuries  between  the  Jacobite 
Patriarch  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  Imperial  Pa- 
triarch appointed  from  Constantinople,  and  in 
the  bitter  dispute  which  raged  at  Chalcedon 
where,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  truth  was  not  nearly  so  conspicu- 
ous a motive  in  the  strife  as  the  dogmatic  vindi- 
cation of  the  authority  and  primacy  of  the  Church 
in  Egypt.  Whether  the  disputes  were  justifiable 
or  not,  matters  not.  The  spirit  of  strife  and  con- 
flict, the  spirit  of  self-assertion,  seized  the  organic 
life  of  the  Church  in  Egypt,  and  spiritual  minded- 
ness began  to  decline.  Spiritual  leadership  gave 
way  to  ecclesiasticism. 

The  unspiritual  tone  of  ecclesiastical  life  and 
the  emphasis  laid  on  ecclesiastical  authority  re- 
flect themselves  in  the  ecclesiastical  documents  of 
this  period.  More  striking  yet  are  such  charac- 
ters as  that  of  the  Patriarch  Cyril  of  Alexandria, 
whom  Schaff  characterises  as  a despotic  ruf- 
fian,” and  whose  brutal  exercise  of  ecclesiastical 
authority  all  those  who  read  Kingsley’s  “ Hypa- 
tia ” will  appreciate.  Of  course,  the  attainment 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  47 


of  the  Egyptian  Church  to  the  rank  of  a State 
Church  gave  added  impetus  to  this  deplorable 
tendency. 

2.  Speculative  Philosophy.  The  speculative 
tendency  of  Egyptian  Christianity  is  well  known. 
Undoubtedly,  this  was  due  to  the  influence  of 
that  Greek  school  of  thought  which  had  already 
made  Alexandria  famous  before  Christianity  ap- 
peared., Aristotelianism,  though  generally  in  dis- 
repute, exercised  a considerable  influence  in  this 
direction.  Perhaps  “ Orientalism  gave  impetus 
to  the  movement.  At  any  ' rate,  this  speculative 
tendency  appears  in  Origen’s  writings,  and 
through  him,  came  to  dominate  the  thought  and 
life  of  the  Egyptian  Church.  It  has  been  pointed 
out  that  while  the  Eastern  Church,  under  the  lead- 
ership of  Origen,  speculated  about  the  nature  of 
God,  the  Western  Church,  under  the  leadership 
of  Augustine,  fixed  its  thought  upon  the  doctrine 
of  sin  and  atonement.  It  is  easy  to  see  which 
tendency  of  thought  would  have  the  greater  ethi- 
cal and  practical  religious  value. 

This  speculative  tendency  shows  itself  not  only 
in  the  well-known  writings  of  Church  leaders, 
whom  we  might  regard  as  permitted  to  push  for- 
ward, in  such  speculative  philosophisings,  for 
their  own  intellectual  satisfaction,  but  we  find  that 
this  spirit  permeated  the  lower  orders  and  the 
common  people.  The  influence  of  it  is  found  in 


48  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


ritual  and  confessions  and  creeds  everywhere. 
The  following  form  of  the  fifth  or  sixth  century 
may  serve  as  illustration: 

‘‘  We  confess  a Trinity  which  is  in  Unity, 
namely  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
three  hypostases  of  whom  one  took  flesh  for  our 
salvation,  namely  the  Son.  Yet  each  one  of  the 
hypostases  is  a thing  apart,  not  in  the  others. 
This  is  in  truth  so.  A single  monarchy,  a single 
pantocracy,  a single  glory.  But  we  join  with  this 
doxology  good  words  for  the  obtaining  of  the 
promises.’’ 

The  modern  missionary  has  abundant  occasion 
for  testifying  to  this  speculative  tendency  of  re- 
ligious thought  and  its  hindrance  to  real  spiritual 
development  among  the  Copts  of  to-day. 

3.  Pagan  Influences.  In  its  beginning  the 
Christian  movement  in  Egypt  succeeded  in  sweep- 
ing back  or  repudiating  any  pagan  doctrines  or 
practices  that  threatened  to  attach  themselves  to 
its  life  and  teachings.  The  essential  spiritual 
character  of  the  Christian  movement  was  a cor- 
rective and  a safeguard.  Later,  however,  as  the 
movement  spread  and  lost  in  certain  quarters  that 
pure  spiritual  character,  and  especially  when  the 
Church  became  recognised  as  an  organisation, 
certain  pagan  notions  and  practices  of  the  ancient 
Egyptian  religion  began  to  corrupt  the  life  of 
the  Church. 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  49 


Clement  recognised,  even  in  his  day,  certain 
tendencies  of  this  sort,  and  he  and  others  repudi- 
ated “ the  gospel  according  to  the  Egyptians 
whose  ‘‘  heretical  asceticism  and  Modalism  throw 
a peculiar  light  upon  the  idiosyncrasies  of  early 
Egyptian  Christianity.” 

The  following  spell  of  an  exorcist,  which  is 
ascribed  by  Wessely  to  the  very  earliest  years  of 
the  fourth  century,  opens  up  a large  subject  for 
discussion,  but  we  quote  it  here  to  show  how 
pagan  rites,  in  some  quarters  at  least,  became  as- 
sociated with  Christian  symbols  or  vice  versa. 

“ Famous  process  for  casting  out  spirits. 

‘‘  A spell  to  be  said  over  his  (i.  e.,  the  patient's) 
head : 

“ Strew  olive  branches  before  him,  and  taking 
up  your  station  behind  him,  say: — Hail,  God  of 
Abraham!  Hail,  God  of  Isaac!  Hail,  God  of 
Jacob!  Jesus  the  Merciful,  the  Holy  Spirit,  the 
Son  of  the  Father  who  is  below  Lo-she-hath-been 
who  is  within  Lo-she-hath-been-and-will-be,  Jaho 
Sabaoth,  may  your  Power  laugh  at  you  until  you 
have  cast  forth  from  such-an-one  this  unclean 
spirit,  this  Ethiopian  Satan,”  etc.,  etc. 

We  may  also  illustrate  pagan  influence  by  re- 
ferring to  the  picture  of  a Christian  priest — if  in- 
deed it  be  such — found  by  Naville  at  Deir  el 
Bahri,  and  described  by  Guimet  as  follows: 

“ In  his  hands  are  portrayed  a chalice  of  wine 


50  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


and  heads  of  wheat  under  which  Jesus  appears, 
and  on  his  sacerdotal  robe,  which  is  quite  white, 
at  the  place  of  the  heart,  is  painted  a brown  square 
with  four  indentations  which  make  of  it  a swas- 
tika designed  to  draw  the  presence  of  the  gods. 

“ Beneath  the  portrait  are  represented  the  boat 
of  Isis  and  the  two  black  jackals  which  for 
more  than  6,000  years  have  guarded  Egyptian 
tombs.'’ 

4.  Mariolatry  and  Angel  Worship,  Some 
trace  back  angel  worship  to  the  influence  of  Gnos- 
tic philosophy  with  its  system  of  aeons  mediating 
between  the  creating  principle  and  created  things. 
The  Monophysite  heresy,  however,  must  certainly 
have  worked  in  favour  of  Mariolatry  and  angel 
worship.  By  depreciating  the  human  nature  of 
Christ,  it  created  the  necessity  for  intermediary 
beings  who  would  bridge  the  gulf  between  hu- 
manity and  a Saviour  thus  deprived  of  a true 
human  nature.  We  find  traces  of  this  movement 
from  the  fourth  century  on. 

Amelineau  has  collected  folk  lore  and  popular 
stories  which  he  claims  were  produced  between 
the  fourth  and  seventh  centuries.  In  these,  angel 
worship  is  abundantly  evidenced,  by  such  fre- 
quently interjected  phrases  as  “ By  the  interces- 
sion of  angel  Michael,”  by  numerous  legends 
about  angelic  interventions,  as  in  the  story  “ How 
the  city  of  Athens  was  converted,”  and  another, 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  51 


‘‘  The  ten  miracles  of  the  archangel  Michael,”  and 
by  churches  named  after  angels. 

We  trace  Mariolatry  also  in  the  Church  ritual. 
A service  for  the  “ Consecration  of  a Church  and 
Altar  according  to  the  Coptic  Rite,”  which  Hor- 
ner dates  back  to  the  third  or  fourth  century, 
has  the  following  for  the  consecration  of  the 
middle  window  east  of  the  altar,  “ We  conse- 
crate this  place  for  a Catholic  Church  of  the 
Theotokos  Maria,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
Son,  and  Holy  Spirit;”  while  various  oratories 
are  consecrated  to  saints.  The  following  appears 
also  in  a Hymn  concerning  the  Virgin,  “ Hear 
Solomon  the  Ecclesiastes  speaking  of  the  honour 
of  Maria  the  Virgin;  calling  her  in  the  song  of 
songs : My  sister,  my  friend,  she  who  is  perfect.” 
So,  too,  we  find  this  in  the  consecration  of  the 
altar  itself : “ By  the  intercession  of  our  Lady,  the 
holy  and  glorious  Virgin,  Mother  of  God,  Maria; 
and  the  supplications  of  the  honourable,  glorious, 
immaterial,  incorporeal  Archangels,  Michael  and 
Gabriel;  and  our  holy  father  Markos,  the  apostle 
and  evangelist;  and  the  choir  of  the  holy  and 
righteous  ones  who  are  not  remembered;  that  by 
their  prayers  and  intercessions  God  may  have 
mercy  on  us  all,  saying,  Kyrie  eleison” 

We  see  the  same  thing  in  the  “ History  of  the 
Patriarchs  of  the  Coptic  Church  of  Alexandria,” 
which  dates  back  to  the  tenth  century.  But  if  we 


52  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 

wish  to  realise  how  deeply  Mariolatry  and  angel 
and  saint  worship  are  embodied  in  the  life  and 
thought  of  the  Coptic  Church  to  this  day,  we  need 
only  examine  the  Coptic  Church  calendar,  where 
every  day  of  the  year  is  assigned  to  one  saint  or 
more,  or  wade  through  the  Liturgy  from  which 
the  following  is  an  illustrative  conclusion: — 
Through  the  prayers  and  the  supplications 
which  Our  Lady  of  us  all,  the  Mother  of  God,  the 
Holy  Mary,  offers  for  us  at  all  times;  as  do  also 
the  three  luminaries,  Michael,  and  Gabriel,  and 
Raphael,  and  Suriel; 

And  the  four  incorporeal  beasts ; 

‘'And  the  twenty-four  elders; 

“And  St.  John  the  Baptist; 

“ And  the  144,000  ; 

“ And  our  lords  and  fathers,  the  Apostles ; 

“And  the  three  holy  youths; 

“And  S.  Stephen; 

“ And  S.  George ; 

“And  S.  Theodorus; 

“ And  S.  Mercurius  ; 

“And  S.  Mina; 

“ And  the  whole  band  of  Martyrs ; 

“ And  my  lord,  the  righteous  and  great  father 
xA.bba  Anthony; 

“ And  my  father  Abba  Pauli ; 

“ And  the  three  Abbas  Macarius; 

“ And  the  whole  band  of  crucifers; 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  53 


‘‘And  my  angel  of  this  blessed  day; 

“ Let  their  blessing,  and  their  strength,  and 
their  help  and  their  grace  be  with  us  all  for  ever. 
Amen.'’ 

5.  Monasticism.  In  speaking  of  Monasticism, 
we  are  referring  to  perhaps  the  supreme  factor  in 
the  degeneracy  of  early  Christianity  in  the  Nile 
Valley.  A standard  work  on  the  Church  in 
Egypt  entitles  the  chapter  which  describes  this 
movement,  “ The  Suicide  of  the  Egyptian  Na- 
tion." It  is  not  too  strong  a representation  of 
the  result  of  the  movement,  for  Monasticism  laid 
its  blighting  influence  upon  the  Christian  Church 
so  early  in  its  history,  it  proved  so  extensive  in 
its  power,  and  its  influence  was  so  baneful,  that 
we  may  say  that  Monasticism,  more  than  any 
single  factor,  proved  the  undoing  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  Egypt. 

It  appeared  so  early  in  the  history  of  Christi- 
anity in  Egypt.  Mention  might  be  made  of  Ori- 
gen's  ascetic  views  and  practices  in  his  earlier 
days.  Paul,  the  hermit,  a native  of  Lower  The- 
baid,  went  into  retirement  in  the  third  century, 
when  the  Christian  Church  was  as  yet  compara- 
tively young,  and  we  may  well  believe  that  hun- 
dreds of  less  prominent  persons  followed  his  ex- 
ample or  even  preceded  him.  A few  decades 
later,  St.  Anthony,  St.  Ammon,  and  Macarius  are 
names  conspicuous  for  their  self-renunication.  It 


54  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


was,  however,  in  the  fourth  century  that  a wave 
of  Monasticism  swept  over  the  country,  which 
fairly  revolutionised  conditions  of  life.  Literally, 
by  the  thousands,  men  rushed  into  the  deserts  to 
build  for  themselves  monasteries  where  they 
could  live  lives  of  retirement  from  the  world. 

A young  Italian,  Rufinus,  who  travelled  in 
Egypt  during  this  period,  leaves  us  a record 
which  makes  it  possible  to  appreciate  to  what  ex- 
tent this  movement  reached.  At  Oxyrynchos,  he 
found  the  whole  population  under  monastic  vows. 
There  were,  so  the  bishop  told  him,  10,000  monks 
and  20,000  nuns  in  the  city.  In  the  Arsinoite 
nome,  the  whole  population  was  under  monastic 
vows,  although  they  continued  their  ordinary  oc- 
cupation of  agriculture.  This  was  also  the  case 
around  Memphis  and  Babylon.  At  Tabennesi 
three  thousand  silent  monks  followed  the  leader- 
ship of  Ammon.  “ There  were  three  kinds  of 
monks  in  Egypt — Caenobites,  who  lived  in  mon- 
asteries together;  the  Anchorites,  who  lived  in 
solitary  cells;  and  the  Remoboths,  who  dwelt  by 
two  or  three  together  in  cities.” 

The  sorrowful  life  which  was  rigidly  imposed 
upon  these  monks  is  a travesty  of  the  Christian 
life.  The  heaviness  of  it  is  oppressive,  as  we  read 
the  rules  governing  their  daily  movements. 
Amelineau  dates  the  following  monastic  rules  in 
the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries: 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  55 


In  whatever  place  we  are,  even  while  walk- 
ing, let  us  pray  to  God  with  all  our  heart,  having 
regard  to  the  beauty  of  the  prayer,  the  hands 
lifted  in  the  form  of  a cross,  let  us  recite  the 
prayer  written  in  the  Gospel;  let  the  eyes  of  our 
heart  and  those  of  our  body  be  lifted  to  the  Lord, 
as  it  is  written : I have  lifted  my  eyes  toward 
Thee,  Lord,  who  dwellest  in  the  heaven,  as  the 
eyes  of  servants  look  to  the  hands  of  their  mas- 
ters. Let  us  arm  ourselves  with  the  seal  of  bap- 
tism at  the  beginning  of  the  prayer,  let  us  make 
the  sign  of  the  cross  on  our  forehead,  as  on  the 
day  in  which  they  baptised  us  and  as  it  is  written 
in  Ezekiel;  let  us  not  lower  the  hand  first,  to  the 
mouth  or  beard,  but  let  us  carry  it  to  the  fore- 
head, saying  in  our  heart : We  seal  ourselves,  we 
mark  ourselves.” 

Then,  too,  we  find  the  following  rules  to  gov- 
ern the  bakery : 

“ Let  us  all  work  making  our  bread,  whether 
old  or  young,  in  the  fear  of  God  and  in  great 
prudence,  meditating  upon  the  work  of  the  Lord 
with  reverence,  without  envy  nor  boasting,  with- 
out desire  to  please  men.  . . . Let  no  one  dare  to 
laugh  the  least  bit  so  that  the  accusation  of  Scrip- 
ture may  not  apply  to  us : They  have  made  their 
bread  with  laughter.” 

The  most  pathetic  fact  is  that  this  flight  from 
the  world  availed  little  to  secure  escape  from 


56  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


temptation  and  sin.  The  fragments  of  history 
which  Amelineau  has  brought  together,  cast  a 
dark  shadow  on  the  inner  life  of  the  monasteries, 
the  most  flagrant  of  sins  being  mentioned, — 
usually  for  rebuke,  it  is  true,  but  still  portraying 
existing  conditions  of  life  in  dark  colours. 

These  ascetic  tendencies  were  not  limited  to 
Egypt,  and,  practically  universally,  the  movement 
was  a pernicious  one.  The  violence  of  these 
bands  of  monks  has  been  commented  upon. 

Boasting  of  their  ignorance,”  says  James  Free- 
man Clarke,  “ half  crazy  with  enthusiasm,  seeing 
wild  visions,  maddened  by  diabolic  temptations, — 
they  were  at  the  mercy  of  religious  demagogues. 
The  monks  rushed  from  the  deserts  into  the  cities 
to  depose  bishops  whom  they  happened  to  think 
heretics.  . . . They  attacked  and  murdered  the 
pagan  priests,  and  destroyed  temples.  They  tore 
the  wise  and  pure  Hypatia  fromher  lecture  room, 
murdered  her,  tore  her  flesh  from  her  bones  with 
sharp  shells,  and  flung  her  mangled  remains  unto 
the  flames.  One  bishop,  at  the  head  of  his  monks, 
beat  to  death  another  bishop,  in  a church 
council.” 

In  such  a movement,  true  Christianity  was  lost. 
The  best  blood  of  the  nation  and  of  the  Church 
was  drained  off  into  the  desert,  where  it  spent 
itself  in  morbid  introspection,  incapable  of  exer- 
cising any  influence  helpful  to  humanity,  as  it  was 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  57 


also  incapable  of  providing  a noble  succession  of 
leaders  to  lift  the  nation  and  advance  the  cause 
of  Christ  in  the  ages  which  were  to  follow.  The 
monastic  movement  in  Egypt  marked  the  suicide 
of  the  Christian  Church. 

6.  The  Loss  of  the  Missionary  Spirit.  The 
rapid  extension  of  Christianity  in  the  Nile  Valley 
is  a most  inspiring  picture.  In  a century  and  a 
half,  it  had  spread  to  every  section  of  Lower 
Egypt  and  even  penetrated  Upper  Egypt.  Just 
when  and  how  it  passed  up  the  Nile  into  what  is 
called  the  Egyptian  Sudan,  we  cannot  tell,  but 
there  are  strong  indications  that  some  form  of 
Christianity  covered  the  northern  section  of  that 
territory  previous  to  the  coming  of  Islam.  Abys- 
sinia, too, 'must  have  had  its  missionaries,  for, 
with  an  unbroken  record  which  dates  back  to  the 
early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  it  has  been 
and  still  is  a nominally  Christian  land.  There  is 
a tradition  that  the  gospel  was  first  carried  to 
Abyssinia  through  two  young  man,  natives  of 
Tyre,  who  had  been  wrecked  on  the  shores  of 
Abyssinia.  This  was  in  the  days  of  Athanasius, 
and,  seeking  help  and  an  ordained  ministry  from 
the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  the  Church  in  Abys- 
sinia came  to  be  affiliated  ecclesiastically  with  the 
Church  of  Egypt.  To  this  day,  the  Metropolitan 
of  Abyssinia  is  sent  to  that  country  from  Egypt, 
the  selection  being  made  by  the  Patriarch.  In 


58  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


almost  every  way,  in  doctrine,  in  polity,  in  gen- 
eral characteristics,  the  Church  of  Abyssinia  re- 
sembles the  Church  of  Egypt,  save  that  a much 
greater  degree  of  ignorance  is  found  in  Abyssinia. 

If  the  missionary  zeal  of  early  Christianity  in 
Egypt  has  been  given  as  the  deepest  human  cause 
in  the  rapid  extension  of  the  faith  in  the  Nile 
Valley,  the  loss  of  this  missionary  spirit  marks 
the  death  of  vital  Christianity  in  the  Egyptian 
Church.  The  growing  evils  which  have  been  de- 
scribed are  only  partial  indications  of  a more 
fundamental  evil : The  Egyptian  Church  had  lost 
her  missionary  spirit.  The  missionary  impulse  is 
essentially  a spiritual  movement,  but  the  Egyptian 
Church  was  now  dominated  by  ecclesiasticism. 
Her  own  organic  life  was  more  to  her  than  the 
projection  of  the  faith.  The  missionary  move- 
ment is  a practical  movement,  which  views  a 
world  of  need  and  goes  forth  to  meet  it.  But  the 
Egyptian  Church  was  now  expending  her  whole 
energy  in  impractical  and  speculative  discussions. 
The  missionary  movement  enthrones  Jesus  Christ 
and  gives  reality  to  His  leadership  by  advancing 
in  His  name  to  world  conquest.  The  Egyptian 
Church,  however,  had  come  now  to  worship 
angels  rather  than  Christ,  and  gave  herself  over 
to  the  contemplation  of  ascetic  saints  rather  than 
to  the  service  of  a World’s  Saviour.  In  short, 
the  missionary  spirit  was  dead.  The  Church  in 


EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  IN  EGYPT  59 

Egypt  had  ceased  to  be  evangelistic  and  she 
quickly  ceased  to  be  evangelical.  Ceasing  to  be 
evangelistic  and  evangelical,  Ichabod  could  be  in- 
scribed upon  her,  for  her  spiritual  glory  had  de- 
parted from  her.  With  the  Arab  invasion,  she 
became  shorn  of  her  temporal  power  and  author- 
ity, and  presented  the  pathetic  picture  of  a Church 
too  great  to  be  crushed  and  too  weak  to  be  able 
to  do  what  Christianity  elsewhere,  when  pure  and 
vital,  has  been  able  to  do — triumph  by  her  spirit- 
ual power  over  her  political  masters  and  lords. 


II 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY 

IN  632  A.D.,  there  died  in  a land  bordering 
on  Egypt,  one  whose  claims  to  be  a prophet 
and  an  apostle  of  God  were  soon  to  become 
established  far  and  wide.  The  remarkable  spread 
of  this  faith  constitutes  one  of  the  most  complex 
problems  of  both  religious  and  political  investiga- 
tion. ‘‘  One  hundred  years  after  Mohammed's 
death,"  says  Zwemer,  “ his  followers  were  mas- 
ters of  an  empire  greater  than  Rome  at  the  zenith 
of  her  power.  They  were  building  mosques  in 
China,  in  Spain,  in  Persia,  and  in  Southern  India. 
Two  hundred  years  after  the  Hegira,  Moham- 
med's name  was  proclaimed  on  thousands  of  min- 
arets from  the  pillars  of  Hercules  to  the  Pacific, 
and  from  Northern  Turkestan  to  Ceylon.  Only 
thirteen  centuries  have  passed,  and  to-day  there 
are  over  two  hundred  and  thirty  million  Moham- 
medans— one-seventh  of  the  population  of  the 
globe!" 

Next  to  Arabia  and  Syria  in  order  of  conquest 
by  Islam,  came  Egypt.  This  conquest  was  ac- 
complished by  Amru-ibn-el-As,  more  commonly 

60 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  6i 


referred  to  as  Amr,  whose  daring  military  powers 
and  ambition  for  the  faith  overbore  the  fears  of 
Omar  for  the  success  of  such  an  enterprise. 

It  is  difficult  to  lay  sufficient  emphasis  on  the 
significance  to  Egypt — alas,  that  it  was  such  a 
lamentable  significance — of  the  Moslem  invasion. 
It  is  doubtful  whether,  apart  from  the  entire  ex- 
tinction of  certain  smaller  kingdoms,  there  ever 
came  upon  any  people  or  nation  such  a transform- 
ing influence  as  came  upon  Egypt  through  the  in- 
vasion of  the  Arabs.  The  language,  the  religion, 
the  social  customs,  the  civilisation  of  the  country 
— these  all  experienced  changes  which  were  noth- 
ing short  of  revolutionary.  Place  the  Egypt  of 
the  centuries  with  which  we  have  been  dealing 
alongside  of  the  Egypt  which  followed  the  Arab 
invasion,  and  what  have  we?  Instead  of  a free 
use  of  the  Hellenic  tongue  and  the  common  use 
of  the  Coptic,  we  find  the  latter  a dead  language 
and  Arabic  the  universal  vehicle  of  thought.  In- 
stead of  affiliation  with  Western  civilisation,  we 
find  Arab  civilisation  dominating  the  country. 
Constantinople  may  still  claim  Egypt  as  a prov- 
ince, but  it  is  not  the  Constantinople  of  a Con- 
stantine; it  is  Stamboul  of  the  Turks.  The  Chris- 
tian Sabbath  has  given  way  to  the  Moslem  Fri- 
day; the  Bible  has  given  place  to  the  Koran; 
Christianity  has  been  displaced  by  Islam;  the 
Crescent  has  triumphed  over  the  Cross.  Egypt 


62  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


has  rejoined  the  great  Orient;  although  once  she 
was  a part  of  the  West,  she  has  become  a part 
of  the  Moslem  world.  Has  any  country  ever  eK- 
perienced  a transformation  more  revolutionary? 
It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  point  out, 
though  it  must  be  in  all  brevity,  how  these 
changes  took  place.  No  attempt  can  be  made  to 
give  any  connected  account  of  the  political  events 
of  the  twelve  centuries  of  the  period.  Some  ref- 
erence, however,  should  be  made  to  the  condition 
of  Egypt  just  prior  to  the  Moslem  invasion. 

EGYPT  BEFORE  THE  ARAB  INVASION 

In  6io  A.D.,  Heraclius  had  just  established 
himself  as  emperor  at  Constantinople,  and  Nice- 
tas was  made  governor  of  Egypt.  Seven  years 
later,  the  Persians  took  possession  of  Egypt,  but 
were  driven  out  after  ten  more  years,  so  that  in 
627  Egypt  was  still,  or  rather  again,  a province 
of  that  Roman  Empire  whose  capital  was  on  the 
Bosphorus. 

Having  driven  back  the  Persians,  Heraclius 
now  turned  his  thought  to  the  schisms  which  had 
rent  Christendom.  The  rivalry  between  the  State 
Church  at  Constantinople  and  the  National 
Church  of  Egypt  appeared  to  him,  as  indeed  it 
was,  deplorable.  Three  centuries  had  not  suf- 
ficed to  heal  the  breach.  On  the  contrary  the  con- 
tention had  become  more  bitter,  for  the  presence 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  63 

in  Egypt  of  a Melkite  Patriarch  appointed  from 
Constantinople  and  the  formation  of  a small,  yet 
wealthy  and  officially  powerful,  Melkite  Church 
in  Egypt,  were  as  thorns  in  the  flesh  to  the  Na- 
tional or  Jacobite  Church.  The  latter  held  to  the 
Monophysite  statement;  the  Melkite  Church  to 
that  of  Chalcedon.  The  Jacobite  Church  com- 
prised the  great  mass  of  the  population  of  Egypt; 
the  Melkite  Church  enjoyed  the  support  of 
Imperial  patronage  and  power.  Yet  Heraclius 
was  hopeful;  he  thought  he  could  bridge  the 
gap. 

The  Emperor’s  plan  for  reconciliation  moved 
in  the  direction  of  finding  a common  ground  for 
the  opposing  factions,  in  the  Monothelite  doctrine, 
ascribing  to  Christ  a single  will;  meanwhile. hold- 
ing in  abeyance  all  discussion  of  whether  He  had 
one  or  tw^o  natures.  When  this  new  statement 
of  the  faith  was  put  officially  and  formally  before 
the  Jacobite  Church,  there  was  a stubborn  rejec- 
tion of  it.  “ They  resented  the  thought,”  says 
Butler,  “ of  changing  one  iota  in  their  Shib- 
boleth, as  treason  to  their  faith  and  to  their  reli- 
gious independence.  It  w^as  this  last  point  in 
which  their  passion  centred.  . . . For  religious  in- 
dependence they  had  struggled  and  fought  inces- 
santly ever  since  the  Council  of  Chalcedon.  That 
ideal  they  cherished  at  all  times  in  their  hearts 
and  for  it  they  were  prepared  to  sacrifice  all  else 


64  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


whatsoever.  In  this  lies  the  key  to  all  their  his- 
tory.” 

The  person  commissioned  to  act  as  agent  for 
the  Emperor  in  the  work  of  reconciliation  in 
Egypt  was  Cyrus.  Whether  of  intention  or  be- 
cause he  lacked  the  qualities  of  a peacemaker,  we 
find  Cyrus  carrying  on,  almost  immediately,  a 
great  campaign  of  persecution  throughout  all 
Egypt.  Special  authority  with  which  he  was 
vested  enabled  him  to  accomplish  this,  for  Herac- 
lius  appointed  him  both  prefect  and  patriarch.  As 
patriarch,  his  power  was  not  so  great,  although 
the  Melkite  Church  in  Egypt  possessed  great 
wealth  and  this  was  at  the  disposal  of  Cyrus.  As 
prefect,  however,  the  whole  political  machinery, 
from  Alexandria  to  Syene,  was  his  for  the  perse- 
cution of  the  Jacobites.  So  a persecution  began 
which  lasted  ten  years.  Its  severity  is  almost  in- 
credible, when  we  remember  that  it  was  carried 
on  in  the  name  of  a Christian  Church,  and  against 
Christians.  Benjamin,  the  patriarch  of  the 
Jacobites,  went  into  hiding.  That  the  Jacobites 
looked  upon  their  Melkite  persecutors  somewhat 
as  agents  of  Satan  is  evident.  The  story  of  Abba 
Samuel’s  persecution  relates  that,  when  sum- 
moned before  his  persecutors,  “ Samuel  went  re- 
joicing in  the  Lord  and  saying,  ‘ Please  God,  it 
will  be  given  me  this  day  to  shed  my  blood  for 
the  name  of  Christ.’  Therefore  he  reviled  the 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  65 

name  of  the  Mukaukas  with  boldness  and  was  led 
before  him  by  the  soldiers.  When  the  Mukaukas 
saw  the  man  of  God,  he  ordered  the  soldiers  to 
smite  him,  till  his  blood  ran  like  water.  Then  he 
said  to  him,  ‘ Samuel,  you  wicked  ascetic,  who  is 
he  that  made  you  abbot  of  the  monastery,  and 
bade  you  teach  the  monks  to  curse  me  and  my 
faith?’  ‘Holy  Abba,’  Samuel  answered,  ‘it  is 
good  to  obey  God  and  His  holy  Archbishop 
Benjamin  rather  than  obey  you  and  your  dev- 
ilish doctrine,  O son  of  Satan,  Antichrist, 
Beguiler.’  ” 

The  historical  record  of  this  period  reflects  only 
too  clearly  that  “ stripes,  torture,  imprisonment 
and  death  ” were  meted  out  all  over  the  country 
to  the  members  and  leaders  of  the  Jacobite 
Church  which  embraced  the  mass  of  the  people. 
Many  of  the  people,  and  even  some  of  the  bishops 
accepted  the  teachings  of  Cyrus,  at  least  nom- 
inally. 

The  chief  significance  of  these  events  lies  in  the 
direction  of  explaining  the  utter  apathy  of  the 
people  to  the  Arab  invasion.  “ During  those  ten 
years  of  hopeless  misery  the  sword  of  Cyrus 
had  cut  through  well-nigh  the  last  thread  which 
bound  their  allegiance  to  the  Roman  Empire; 
and  they  regarded  the  advent  of  the  Moslems  as 
a plague  sent  by  divine  vengeance  upon  their 
persecutors.” 


66  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


THE  ARAB  INVASION 

It  was  in  the  closing  days  of  639  a.d.,  that 
Amr  and  his  little  band  of  4,000  men  crossed  the 
stream  or  torrent  bed  which  is  the  boundary  be- 
tween Palestine  and  Egypt.  In  a few  days,  he 
had  occupied  Farama,  the  ancient  Pelusium,  and 
soon  after  successfully  engaged  the  Roman  force 
at  Bilbais.  A raid  upon  the  rich  provinces  of 
Faiyum  followed,  then  re-enforcements  from 
Omar  arrived  and  Amr  now  had  at  his  disposal 
a force  of  15,000  men.  The  battle  of  Heliopolis 
showed  the  ability  of  the  Arabs  to  cope  with  such 
troops  as  the  Imperial  authority  in  Egypt  could 
boast  of,  even  though  the  latter  outnumbered  the 
Moslems  almost  two  to  one. 

The  siege  and  ultimate  capture  of  the  almost 
impregnable  fortress  of  Babylon  followed,  to- 
gether with  the  reduction  of  Alexandria  and  the 
occupation  of  the  coast  towns, — all  of  which  may 
be  found  detailed  in  great  fulness  in  “ The  Arab 
Conquest  of  Egypt,”  a monograph  by  A.  J.  But- 
ler upon  this  period.  Attention  needs  to  be  called 
alone  to  one  point,  the  attitude  of  the  Egyptians 
to  this  Arab  invasion. 

Certain  conflicting  statements  concerning  a 
hazy  historical  personage  called  the  Mukaukas, 
who  tried  to  make  terms  with  the  Arabs  and 
traitorously  plotted  the  surrender  of  the  fortress 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  67 


Babylon,  have  been  referred  in  many  quarters  to 
either  the  Patriarch,  or  some  other  influential 
leader,  of  the  Jacobites,  In  support  of  this  posi- 
tion, the  cruel  treatment  of  the  Jacobites  by  the 
Melkite  party  is  adduced  as  evidence  to  show  that 
resentment  would  lead  these  oppressed  Monoph- 
ysite  Christians  to  join  hands  with  the  Arabs 
for  the  sake  of  securing  deliverance  from  their 
persecutors.  Mr.  Butler,  in  his  work  already 
mentioned,  discusses  very  fully  and  comprehen- 
sively the  whole  question,  and  proves  quite  con- 
vincingly that  the  Mukaukas  was  none  other  than 
Cyrus,  the  prefect-patriarch  of  the  Melkite 
Church.  The  acts  which  history  ascribes  to  the 
Mukaukas  call  for  an  authority  which  he  alone 
possessed,  and  abundant  motive  for  these  acts  may 
be  found  in  the  unscrupulous  and  panic-stricken 
efforts  which  such  a man  as  Cyrus  would  put 
forth  to  save  the  province  committed  to  his  care. 

The  attitude  of  the  Monophysite  Egyptians,  or 
the  Egyptian  nation  generally,  as  that  of  apathy 
toward  the  invasion  of  the  Arabs.  Weakened  by 
poverty,  robbed  of  the  faculty  of  self-assertion 
through  long  oppression,  morbidly  responsive 
only  to  the  tenets  of  a creed,  and  indifferent  to  the 
wider  and  more  vital  interests  of  their  own  indi- 
vidual and  national  life,  the  Egyptians  accepted 
the  new  political  situation  with  scarcely  a 
murmur. 


68  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


When  the  Arabs  first  occupied  Egypt,  a treaty 
was  executed  to  which  Amr  was  party.  Its  open- 
ing sentence  ran  thus,  “ In  the  name  of  God,  the 
Compassionate,  the  Merciful,  this  is  the  amnesty 
which  Amru-ibn-el-As  granted  the  people  of 
Misr,  as  to  themselves,  their  religion,  their  goods, 
their  churches  and  crosses,  their  lands  and  waters ; 
nothing  of  these  shall  be  meddled  with  or  min- 
ished.’' Amr’s  own  government  of  Egypt  was 
indeed  marked  by  mildness.  The  Egyptian 
Christians  were  required  to  pay  poll  tax  of  two 
dinars  per  head  levied  on  all  able-bodied  adult 
men.  There  was,  in  addition  to  this,  a land  tax 
that  varied  with  the  conditions  of  the  Nile  flood. 
These  taxes,  however,  seem  to  have  been  lighter 
than  those  of,  at  least,  the  last  days  of  the  Em- 
pire. We  even  hear  of  Christians  being  allowed 
to  build  as  well  as  repair  churches.  It  would 
seem  that  with  the  loss  of  secular  power,  the  Mel- 
kite  Church  ceased  to  be  any  large  factor  in  the 
life  of  Egypt.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Arab  gov- 
ernment prevented  any  reprisals  at  this  time  on 
the  part  of  their  former  rivals,  the  Jacobites. 

The  equitable  government  of  Egypt  by  Amr 
failed  to  satisfy  the  greedy  Caliphs  and  Amr  was 
recalled.  The  next  governor,  Abdallah,  succeeded 
in  raising  a revenue  of  14,000,000  dinars  from 
Egypt  as  against  Amr’s  12,000,000  D.  The 
camel  yields  more  milk  now,”  observed  the  Ca- 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  69 


liph  Othman,  at  Medina.  ‘‘  Yes/’  was  Amr’s  re- 
ply, “ but  to  the  hurt  of  her  young.”  During 
Abdallah’s  administration,  we  find  Arab  domina- 
tion forcing  its  way  beyond  the  first  cataract  into 
Nubia  and  laying  upon  the  Nubians  a levy  which 
might  well  be  regarded  as  the  forerunner  of  the 
slave  trade  of  later  years, — three  hundred  and 
sixty  slaves  of  both  sexes  to  be  delivered  annually 
to  the  Governor  of  Assuan. 

MOSLEM  DOMINATION 

It  is  not  our  purpose  here  to  record  the  events 
of  Moslem  domination  in  Egypt  save  as  these  re- 
late to  religious  conditions.  Generally  speaking, 
no  sweeping  changes  were  made  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  government.  The  system  intro- 
duced by  the  Romans  met  every  need,  and,  while 
officials  and  official  titles  changed,  the  administra- 
tion remained  much  as  it  had  been.  The  gov- 
ernor stood  at  the  head.  He  was  appointed  by 
the  Caliph  and  usually  his  term  was  short.  In  a 
period  of  228  years,  we  find  almost  a hundred 
governors  in  office.  Justice  and  tyranny  alter- 
nated according  to  the  character  of  the  governor 
and  his  staff  of  officials. 

This  period  of  Egyptian  history  is  generally 
divided  into  shorter  periods  named  after  the 
families  that  ruled  Egypt  either  in  person  or 
through  governors  of  their  appointment.  From 


70  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


658  to  750  A.D.,  we  have  the  Ommayyad  Ca- 
liphs; from  750  to  866  the  Abbassid  Caliphs; 
from  868  to  905,  the  House  of  Tulun ; from  969  to 
1171,  the  Fatimites;  from  1171  to  1250,  the  Ay- 
yubid  rulers;  from  1250  to  1517,  the  Mameluke 
dynasty;  in  1517,  Egypt  became  a province  of  the 
Turkish  Empire,  and  has  remained  such,  at  least 
nominally,  down  to  the  present  time,  although 
far-reaching  influences  may  be  dated  from  the 
establishment  of  the  Khedivate  in  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century  and  from  the  British 
occupation  of  Egypt  in  1882.  A brief,  clear,  and 
accurate  summary  of  the  political  events  of  the 
period  extending  from  640  to  1517  may  be  found 
in  Lane-Poole's  “ History  of  Egypt  in  the  Middle 
Ages/' 

At  the  beginning  of  this  extended  period  we 
find  in  Egypt  a population  of  about  ten  million 
souls,  of  whom  the  overwhelming  majority  are, 
at  least  nominally,  Christians.  In  670,  within 
thirty  years  of  the  Arab  invasion,  the  number  of 
Christians,  as  judged  by  poll-tax  records  (Mos- 
lems were  not  liable  to  poll-tax),  seems  to  have 
fallen  off  to  seven  millions.  In  725,  the  number 
of  Christians  had  been  reduced  to  five  millions. 
The  year  832  marked  the  suppression  of  the  last 
national  movement  of  rebellion  on  the  part  of  the 
Egyptian  Christians,  and  from  this  date,"  says 
Lane-Poole,  “ begins  the  numerical  preponder- 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  ^\ 


ance  of  the  Moslems  over  the  Christians  in  Egypt, 
and  the  settlement  of  the  Arabs  in  the  villages  and 
on  the  land,  instead  of  as  heretofore  only  in  the 
great  cities.  Egypt  now  became,  for  the  first 
time,  an  essentially  Mohammedan  country.”  Thus 
in  two  hundred  years  we  find  the  Christian  popu- 
lation reduced  from  ten  million  to  less  than  five 
million,  and  there  are  over  ten  centuries  left  be- 
fore we  come  to  modern  times,  in  which  the 
further  reduction  may  be  made  in  their  numbers, 
from  five  million  to  some  six  hundred  thousand. 
The  influences  which  operated  in  favour  of  this 
reduction  of  Christians  and  the  increase  of  the 
Moslem  population  are  worth  noticing. 

I.  Taxation.  The  Moslem  conqueror,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  general  practice  of  Islam, 
offered  the  Egyptians  three  choices:  To  accept 
Islam,  to  pay  tribute,  or  to  fight  to  the  death. 
Egypt  was  unwilling  to  accept  the  first  and  too 
weak  to  accept  the  last.  Tribute  was  therefore 
imposed  and  a poll-tax  of  about  two  dinars  was 
levied  on  each  able-bodied  male  adult.  This  tax 
must  have  been  an  oppressive  one  for  the  poorer 
classes,  and  by  becoming  Moslems  they  could  be  ' 
freed  from  it. 

In  addition  to  this  tax,  there  were  the  regular 
land  taxes.  These,  however,  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  unreasonable  save  as  increased  through  the 
extortion  of  tax-gatherers.  In  the  early  decades 


72  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


of  the  Arab  occupation,  the  Arabs  were  not  per- 
mitted to  acquire  land,  the  aim  being  to  hold  them 
to  the  soldier  profession.  As  their  numbers  in- 
creased the  rule  was  revoked,  and  then  the  Mos- 
lem became  liable,  equally  with  the  Christian,  to 
land  taxation. 

However,  it  was  not  long  before  the  Christians 
were  subjected  to  considerable  special  taxation  of 
an  abusive  sort.  In  705,  Abdallah,  the  governor, 
imposed  a special  tax  of  one  gold  piece  on  every 
monk,  and  forbade  the  burial  of  the  Christian 
dead  until  a special  burial  fee  was  paid.  More 
than  once  were  the  Patriarchs  cast  into  prison 
until  a purely  extortionate  ransom  was  paid; 
sometimes  they  were  allowed  to  make  a begging 
tour  through  the  country  to  secure  the  money 
wherever  they  could. 

2.  Obnoxious  legislation.  The  laws  which  im- 
posed upon  the  Christians  regulations  calculated 
to  bring  them  into  open  contempt,  were  even  more 
galling  than  those  relating  to  taxation.  Even  in 
705,  we  find  an  edict  forbidding  Christians  to 
wear  a hurniis.  In  850,  the  Caliph  el-Mutawek- 
kil,  issued  a series  of  regulations.  “ The  Chris- 
tians were  ordered  to  wear  honey-coloured 
clothes,  with  distinguishing  patches,  use  wooden 
stirrups  and  set  up  wooden  images  of  the  devil  or 
an  ape  or  dog  over  their  doors;  the  girdle,  the 
symbol  of  femininity,  was  forbidden  to  women, 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  73 


and  ordered  to  be  worn  by  men;  crosses  were  not 
to  be  shown  nor  processional  lights  carried  in  the 
streets,  and  their  graves  were  to  be  indistinguish- 
able from  the  earth  around.  They  were  also  for- 
bidden to  ride  horses.”  Concerning  such  perse- 
cutions in  the  fourteenth  century,  Quatremere 
makes  the  following  statement  on  the  authority  of 
the  historian  Makrisi,  As  the  Christians  wore 
at  this  time  white  turbans,  a proclamation  was 
made  in  the  streets  of  Cairo  that  any  one  meeting 
a Christian  with  a turban  of  this  colour  could  kill 
him  and  take  his  property.  The  same  right  was 
conferred  on  any  one  who  would  find  a Christian 
riding  a horse.  An  edict  of  the  Sultan  was  pub- 
lished which  forbade  all  Christians  wearing  blue 
turbans,  forbade  their  taking  the  costumes  of 
Moslems;  entering  the  bath  house  without  a bell 
hanging  at  their  neck,  and  appearing  in  public 
riding  on  either  horse  or  mule.  The  ass  was  the 
only  mount  allowed  them;  even  then  it  was  neces- 
sary for  them  to  face  the  tail  of  the  animal.  . . . 
The  Christians,  exposed  to  the  fury  of  the  Mos- 
lems, did  not  dare  appear  in  the  streets;  and  a 
great  number  of  them  embraced  Islam.” 

3.  Serious  Persecution.  It  would  require  too 
much  time  to  enumerate  the  many  occasions  when 
the  persecution  of  Christians  went  farther  and 
destroyed  both  life  and  property.  The  cause  of 
such  extreme  persecution  was  often  trifling 


74  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


enough.  In  722,  an  order  to  destroy  the  sacred 
pictures  of  the  Christian  Churches  led  to  a rising 
of  the  Copts  in  the  Eastern  Delta.  For  five  years 
(1007-12),  there  was  a progressive  enforcement 
of  an  edict  for  the  confiscation  of  Christian 
churches  and  the  confiscation  of  their  lands  and 
property.  A few  decades  later,  similar  attacks 
were  revived.  Again  and  again,  for  a year  or 
more  at  a time,  all  churches  were  kept  closed,  and 
more  than  one  church  despoiled  of  its  pillars  and 
ornaments  for  the  building  of  a mosque. 

The  severity  of  these  persecutions  is  shown  by 
the  uprisings  to  which  even  the  docile  Copt  was 
inspired,  and  at  such  times  the  Moslems  made 
Christian  blood  run  freely  and  thousands  were 
put  to  death.  In  later  centuries,  when  the  Copts 
were  too  weak  to  rebel,  they  were  often  the  vic- 
tims of  fanatical  movements  kindled  by  the 
preaching  of  some  fakir. 

4.  Political  disturbances j famines,  and  plagues. 
It  is  utterly  impossible  to  give,  in  a few  para- 
graphs, any  idea  of  the  sufferings  which  fell  upon 
the  population  of  Egypt  through  the  political  up- 
heavals which  the  government  was  continually 
experiencing.  The  history  of  Egypt,  especially 
since  1000  a.d.,  is  almost  a continuous  narrative 
of  wars,  rebellions,  party  strife,  conflicts  of  Arabs 
with  Turks  and  of  Turks  with  negro  troops,  mur- 
ders of  rulers,  usurpation  of  power,  cruelty,  rob- 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  75 


bery,  bloodshed.  While  these  disturbances  chiefly 
affected  Cairo  and  the  larger  towns,  yet,  to  a 
great  extent,  the  entire  life  of  the  country  was 
also  affected  by  them.  The  population  of  the 
whole  country  became  reduced  and  we  may  be 
sure  that  the  despised  Christians  were  made  to 
suffer  the  most,  wherever  their  presence  made 
it  possible  to  lay  the  burden  of  misfortune  upon 
them. 

Famine  and  plague,  too,  while  ravaging  Mos- 
lem communities,  did  not  spare  Christians.  After 
these  epidemics  had  passed,  it  was  the  Moslem 
population  rather  than  the  Coptic  that  recovered 
and  established  itself  firmly.  The  frequency  with 
which  these  conditions  of  famine  epidemics  re- 
produced themselves  forbids  their  separate  con- 
sideration, but  the  following  account  of  condi- 
tions in  1069  will  serv^e  as  an  illustration: 

“ The  jealousy  between  the  Turkish  troops  and 
the  Sudani  battalions  grew  to  alarming  propor- 
tions. A broil  led  to  a general  engagement,  and 
the.  Turks  drove  the  blacks,  to  the  number  of 
50,000,  out  of  Cairo  into  Upper  Egypt.  The 
black  regiments  held  all  Upper  Egypt,  and  40,000 
horsemen  of  the  Lewata  overran  the  Delta,  and 
abandoned  the  dikes  and  canals  to  destruction, 
with  the  open  intention  of  starving  the  inhabi- 
tants. Cairo  and  Fustat  were  cut  off  from  sup- 
plies and  a terrible  famine  which  began  with  the 


;6  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


low  Nile  of  1065,  and  lasted  unbroken  for  seven 
years  (1066-72),  brought  the  country  to  the  ut- 
most pitch  of  misery.  The  fellahin,  in  terror  of 
the  armed  bands  that  infested  the  land,  dared  not 
carry  on  their  work,  and  the  usual  effects  of  a 
bad  Nile  were  thus  prolonged  to  successive  years. 
In  the  capital,  cut  off  from  all  communication 
with  the  provinces,  the  famine  was  felt  in  the 
greatest  severity.  A cake  of  bread  was  sold  for 
15  D.  (about  $37),  a house  was  exchanged  for 
20  pounds  of  flour,  an  egg  went  for  a dinar. 
Horses  and  asses  were  eaten,  a dog  fetched  5 D. 
(about  $12.50),  a cat  3 D.  (about  $7.50),  till 
soon  there  was  not  an  animal  to  be  seen.  At  last 
people  began  to  eat  each  other.  Passengers  were 
caught  in  the  streets  by  hooks  let  down  from  the 
windows,  drawn  up,  killed,  and  cooked.  Human 
flesh  was  sold  in  public.  Plague  came  to  finish 
what  famine  had  begun,  and  whole  houses  were 
emptied  of  every  living  soul  in  twenty-four 
hours.”  To  this  account  of  Lane-Poole’s,  we 
simply  add  the  statement  that  more  than  one  such 
famine  visited  Egypt,  and  even  many  famines  oc- 
curred approaching  this  one  in  severity. 

5.  Marriage,  The  spread  of  Islam  has  been 
often  credited  in  large  measure  to  intermarriage 
and  the  natural  propagation  of  the  Moslem  popu- 
lation. It  was  not  otherwise  in  Egypt.  The  law 
forbade  a Christian  marrying  a Moslem  woman. 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  77 


A Christian  who  made  bold  to  marry  a Moslem 
woman  under  the  Mameluke  dynasty,  was  actu- 
ally buried  alive  and  the  woman’s  nose  was  cut 
off.  On  the  other  hand,  a Moslem  could  marry 
a Christian  woman  and  the  children  were  invari- 
ably Moslem.  The  oppression  of  Christians 
would  also  naturally  tend  to  restrict  among  them 
marriage  or  the  raising  of  large  families;  while 
the  favour  shown  the  Moslems,  as  well  as  the 
polygamy  which  their  religion  allowed  them, 
would  operate  in  the  direction  of  increasing  their 
numbers. 

6.  Immigration  of  Arabs.  With  the  Arab 
conquest  of  Egypt  there  began  a steady  stream 
of  immigration  from  Arabia  to  Egypt.  Nor 
were  there  exclusion  laws  to  forbid  entrance  to 
any  who  came.  On  the  contrary,  their  coming 
was  invited.  Almost  every  newly  appointed  gov- 
ernor brought  with  him  from  Arabia  6,000 
troops.  This  would  bring  on  an  average  30,000 
each  decade,  while  in  760  alone,  Humeyd,  the 
governor,  brought  with  him  20,000  soldiers. 
Again  we  hear  of  whole  tribes  emigrating  from 
Arabia,  such  as  that  of  el-Kenz,  which  settled  in 
Upper  Egypt.  About  732,  the  treasurer,  Obey- 
dallah  actually  imported  5,000  Arabs  of  the  tribe 
of  Keys  and  settled  them  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  Delta,  so  as  to  advance  the  Moslem  faith. 
When  Gawhar  conquered  Egypt,  in  969,  he 


78  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


brought  with  him  an  army  said  to  number  10,000. 
These  instances  may  suffice  to  indicate  how  im- 
migration helped  to  make  Egypt  more  thoroughly 
Moslem. 

Over  against  these  unfavourable  influences, 
there  need  to  be  set  certain  other  influences  which 
availed  somewhat  to  safeguard  the  interests  of  the 
Christians  even  in  their  position  of  subjection. 

First,  their  very  numbers  helped  the  Egyptian 
Christians.  Persecution  could  not  hope  to  wipe 
out  a nation, — although  it  almost  succeeded. 
Whatever  the  edict  of  persecution,  it  spent  its 
force  in  some  few  localities  and  could  not  be  made 
effective  over  so  great  an  area  as  the  Egyptian 
Christian  community  represented. 

The  ability  of  the  Copts  also  served  them  in 
good  stead.  A fact  conspicuous  throughout  the 
history  of  Moslem  domination  in  Egypt  as  also 
to-day,  is  the  superiority  of  the  Christian, 
whether  Copt  or  Protestant,  to  the  Moslem  in 
mental  ability.  The  Moslem  may  be  superior  in 
certain  qualities  of  leadership  and  self-assertion, 
but  in  intellectual  ability  he  is  usually  inferior. 
The  result  has  been  that  in  practically  all  dynas- 
ties, the  foreign  conquerer,  whether  Arab,  Mame- 
luke or  Turk,  has  learned  to  lean  upon  the  Chris- 
tian adviser  or  agent  for  the  administration  of 
affairs.  We  thus  find  a Christian  as  the  archi- 
tect of  both  the  great  mosque  and  the  aque- 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  79 


duct  of  Ibn-Tulun.  We  find  the  wezir  of  the 
Caliph  Aziz,  the  two  wezirs  of  Hakim,  the  wezir 
Bahran,  and  many  others  in  later  years  and  cen-' 
turies, — Christians,  serving  under  Moslem  rulers. 
Naturally,  in  direct  and  indirect  ways,  these  posi- 
tions of  influence  enabled  the  Christians  who  held 
them  to  render  to  their  brethren  important  serv- 
ices for  the  protection  of  both  life  and  property, 
and  for  securing  concessions  and  privileges. 

Furthermore. certain  governors  were  well  dis- 
posed toward  the  Egyptian  Christians.  Not  all 
Moslem  rulers  displayed  bitter  hatred  toward 
them.  Amr,  in  his  day,  set  a worthy  precedent 
for  fair  dealing  in  the  treatment  of  Christians. 
Others,  at  intervals,  followed  in  his  steps.  Tu- 
lun,  the  Ikhshid,  Moizz,  Aziz,  the  Fatimids  gen- 
erally, Kamil,  Nasir  in  his  third  reign,  and  others, 
were  recognised  as  lenient  toward  the  Christians, 
and,  during  their  reign,  churches  were  reopened 
or  even  rebuilt,  and  the  Christian  population  grew 
in  influence  and  in  wealth. 

CHARACTER  OF  ISLAM  IN  EGYPT 

While  the  Mohammedan  may  say,  “ God  is 
One,”  he  cannot  make  the  same  declaration  con- 
cerning Islam.  In  the  second  century  after  the 
death  of  its  founder,  Islam  began  to  divide  into 
rival  camps,  each  accusing  the  other  of  heresy. 
While,  of  course,  solidarity  must  be  conceded  to 


8o  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Islam,  yet,  as  Zwemer  says,  “ for  rancour,  bitter- 
ness, and  hatred,  the  sad  divisions  of  Christianity 
are  far  outmatched  by  the  history  of  sects  in 
Islam.”  Sometimes  racial  distinctions,  some- 
times political  considerations,  came  to  add  depth 
and  permanency  to  the  religious  rivalry.  Egypt 
lay  too  near  Arabia,  the  storm  centre  of  Moham- 
medan propaganda,  to  escape  the  influence  of 
these  rival  interpretations  of  Islam.  In  the  eighth 
century,  a.d.,  the  Kharigis  warred  against  the 
Alawis,  or  supporters  of  the  claims  of  Ali’s  de- 
scendants, in  the  Delta.  Abu-Awn,  Salih's  gen- 
eral, was  obliged  to  despatch  3,000  Kharigi  rebel 
heads  to  Fostat  to  put  a summary  termination 
to  their  revolt.  Within  a decade,  it  was  the 
Alawis  who  caused  trouble  and  one  of  them  tried 
to  become  caliph  in  Egypt,  but  was  deterred  by 
seeing  the  head  of  another  rebel  of  his  family 
exposed  in  the  mosque  at  Fostat. 

In  the  ninth  century,  the  caliph  El-Mamun  re- 
quired every  Kadi,  or  judge,  to  accept  the  doctrine 
of  the  createdness  of  the  Koran  under  penalty  of 
being  shorn  of  his  beard,  whipped,  and  driven 
through  the  city  on  an  ass;  while  he  drove  the 
orthodox  Hanafis  and  Shafts  out  of  the  mosques. 
In  the  eleventh  century,  Hakim,  the  Shiite  caliph, 
pushed  the  teachings  of  Shiism  to  an  extreme  and 
fancied  himself  the  incarnation  of  the  Godhead. 
He  required  his  people  to  worship  his  name. 


- ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  8i 


However,  when  one  of  the  preachers  began  an 
address  with  “ In  the  Name  of  el-Hakim,  the 
Compassionate,  the  Merciful,”  a tumult  ensued 
and  the  people  murdered  the  blasphemers.  A few 
decades  later,  all  the  leaders  of  the  Maliki  school 
were  banished  from  Egypt.  These  instances  will 
suffice  to  illustrate  that  Mohammedanism  in 
Egypt  experienced  variations  and  modifications, 
and  to  show  that  the  varying  sects  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  use  force  with  which  to  sustain  their  posi- 
tions against  even  fellow-Moslems. 

The  deepest  line  of  cleavage,  however,  in  Is- 
lam, is  that  which  exists  between  Sunnis  and 
Shias.  The  heart  of  their  mutual  contention  is 
in  the  question  of  the  Imamate:  Whose  is  the 
true  line  of  succession  after  Mohammed?  Who 
is  the  true  Iman,  or  Vicar  of  God  on  earth  ? This 
contention  looks  to  be  purely  factional  and  indeed 
it  wrought  itself  out  in  political  movements. 
However,  back  of  the  separation  of  Moslems  into 
these  two  rival  camps,  and  historically  involved 
in  this  question  of  “ Apostolic  ” succession,  must 
be  seen  two  divergent  tendencies  as  deep  and  fun- 
damental as  “ the  impassable  ethnological  gulf 
which  separates  the  Aryan  and  Semitic  races,” 
who  came  under  the  sway  of  the  Crescent.  The 
Sunni  sect  is  the  orthodox  sect  and  vastly  out- 
numbers the  Shia  sect  in  the  world  to-day.  The 
latter,  however,  established  itself  in  Persia  and 


82  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


has  exerted  a far-reaching  influence  in  spite  of 
its  heretical  reputation. 

Mohammedanism  in  Egypt  has  been  identified 
chiefly,  throughout  the  twelve  centuries  of  its  es- 
tablishment, with  the  Sunni  division  of  Islam. 
For  two  centuries,  however  (969-1169),  Egypt 
was  subject  to  Shia  rule.  Most  remarkable,  also, 
the  change,  both  at  the  beginning  and  at  the  end 
of  this  period,  was  made  with  scarcely  a murmur 
of  protest.  In  1169,  we  even  find  Saladin  occu- 
pying the  anomalous  position  of  being  prime- 
minister  to  a Shia  caliph,  and  lieutenant  to  a 
Sunni  king.  The  explanation  of  this  absence  of 
bitter  rivalry  between  these  two  wings  of  Islam, 
lies  in  the  fact  that,  in  Egypt  at  least,  the  Shia 
regime  was  more  political  than  religious,  and  the 
people  accepted  the  political  claims  of  the  Fatimid 
dynasty  without  accepting,  or  being  forced  to 
accept,  the  religious  implications  of  the  Shia  faith. 
While  Islam  in  Egypt  has,  with  the  main  excep- 
tion noted,  been  of  the  orthodox  or  Sunni  type, 
we  may  add  that  in  Lower  Egypt  the  Shafiyah 
school  of  Sunnis  has  prevailed;  in  Upper  Egypt 
the  Malikiyah. 

Theoretically,  the  caliph  was  ever  the  head  of 
the  Moslem  state.  The  doctrine  of  the  Imamate, 
however,  quickly  robbed  the  caliphate  of  any  logi- 
cal claim  to  political  leadership  and  relegated  him 
to  a spiritual  or  religious  sphere.  This  proved 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  83 


a very  convenient  modus  vivendi  for  the  ambi- 
tious governors  of  Egypt,  who  could  not  discover 
in  their  own  family  any  claim  to  the  caliphate. 
Indeed,  the  evident  subordination  of  the  authority 
of  the  caliphs  to  that  of  the  Moslem  governors  of 
Egypt,  is  a commentary  upon  the  fact  that  Islam 
in  Egypt  has  been  more  a political  than  a religious 
movement.  In  1068,  for  example,  we  find  the 
unhappy  caliph  Mustansir  practically  a prisoner 
of  Nasir-ed-dawla  and  almost  on  the  verge  of 
actual  want;  while  more  than  once  the  actual 
ruler  of  Egypt  is  seen  using  the  caliph's  spiritual 
authority  as  something  to  conjure  with  in  estab- 
lishing his  claims  and  furthering  his  political 
plans. 

There  is  scarcely  another  country  whose  his- 
tory affords  us  a better  opportunity  for  judging 
of  Islam  than  does  Egypt.  Here  is  a land  where 
Islam  has  had  a free  hand  to  reveal  what  was  best 
in  it.  Here  Moslem  rulers  exercised  their  will 
with  absolute  authority,  and,  after  the  middle  of 
the  ninth  century,  a majority  of  the  population 
was  Moslem.  Here,  too,  ample  time  was  given 
for  the  development  of  any  ideals  of  individual 
life,  of  social  life,  of  philosophy,  science  or  art, 
of  state  and  national  life,  that  Islam  was  capable 
of.  For  twelve  centuries,  Islam  held  undisputed 
sway,  and  twelve  centuries  afford  time  enough 
for  even  a world  movement  to  display  its  merits 


84  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


and  show  its  worth.  Egypt  also  lay  near  to 
Arabia,  the  cradle  of  Islam.  It  was  not  as  if 
Islamic  thought  and  life  and  civilisation  had  be- 
come alienated  from  a true  Islamic  type,  through 
distance,  as  in  China.  Here,  too,  was  a rich 
province,  the  garden  of  the  world,  whose  develop- 
ment afforded  rare  opportunity  for  building  up, 
under  wise  government,  a nation  whose  pros- 
perity would  contribute  to  her  institutions  of 
learning,  art,  religion,  and  statecraft.  This  was 
no  poverty-stricken  country,  as  Arabia,  whose 
only  life  must  be  a struggle  for  existence.  Here, 
too,  was  a country  whose  civilisation  was  already 
advanced,  and  whose  people  showed  capacity  for 
great  deeds  as  well  as  great  learning.  It  was  not 
like  dealing  with  a savage  or  barbarous  race, 
without  attainment  or  capacity.  If  ever  Islam 
may  be  judged  fairly,  it  surely  must  be  by  her 
record  in  the  Nile  Valley.  Egypt  lay  at  the  hand 
of  Islam  like  a rare  marble  at  the  hand  of  a 
sculptor,  ready  to  be  wrought  upon  according  to 
the  full  measure  of  his  skill.  It  must  be  confessed 
that  the  results  are  disappointing. 

It  is  difficult,  of  course,  to  sum  up  in  a few 
paragraphs  any  adequate  estimate  of  twelve  cen- 
turies of  Moslem  domination  in  Egypt.  In  con- 
sidering so  long  a period,  numerous  exceptions 
will  be  found  contradicting  any  general  statement 
which  may  be  made  concerning  the  character  of 


- ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  85 


the  Moslem  movement  in  the  Nile  Valley.  Em- 
phasising, however,  the  necessity  for  allowances 
at  this  point,  we  venture  a few  general  charac- 
terisations of  Islam  in  Egypt. 

I.  Luxury.  Of  the  Arabs,  Mrs.  Butcher  says, 
“ Their  idea  of  government  is  personal  aggran- 
disement, and  their  idea  of  civilisation  personal 
luxury.’'  The  statement  might  be  extended  to 
include  all  Moslem  rulers  in  Egypt,  whether 
Arabs,  Syrians,  Turks,  or  Circassians.  The  lux- 
ury displayed  often  exceeds  description.  In  the 
tenth  century  Moizz  set  an  example  of  luxury. 

Of  the  size  and  splendour  of  the  Great  Palace,” 
says  Lane-Poole,  “ the  Arabic  historians  speak 
with  bated  breath.  We  read  of  five  thousand 
chambers; — of  the  Golden  Gate  which  opened 
to  the  Golden  Hall,  a gorgeous  pavilion  where 
the  caliph  seated  on  his  golden  throne,  surrounded 
by  his  chamberlains  and  gentlemen  in  waiting, 
surveyed  from  behind  a screen  of  golden  filigree 
the  festivals  of  Islam; — of  the  Emerald  Hall 
with  its  beautiful  pillars  of  marble; — the  great 
Divan,  where  he  sat  on  Mondays  and  Thursdays 
at  a window  beneath  a cupola; — and  the  Porch 
where  he  listened  every  evening  while  the  op- 
pressed and  wronged  came  below  and  cried  the 
credo  of  the  Shia  till  he  heard  their  griefs  and 
gave  redress.”  Luxury  of  table  rivalled  luxury 
of  residence,  for  we  find  that  Kafur’s  table  (946- 


86  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


968)  required  a daily  provision  of  “ 100  sheep, 
100  lambs,  250  geese,  500  fowls,  1,000  pigeons 
and  other  birds,  and  100  jars  of  sweets.”  To  the 
luxury  of  table  we  need  also  add  the  luxury  of 
trappings.  In  the  time  of  Aziz,  we  hear  of 
“ heavy  gold-embroidered,  many-coloured  tur- 
bans, sixty  yards  long,  made  of  the  costly  fabrics 
woven  at  the  royal  factories  of  Debik,  robes  and 
coverings  of  the  Attabi  (taby)  cloth  of  Bagdad, 
or  the  coloured  stuffs  of  Ramla  and  Tiberias,  or 
Cairo  saklatiin;  horse  housings  set  with  jewels 
and  set  with  ambergris  to  cover  armour  inlaid 
with  gold.”  In  the  twelfth  century  the  wealth 
of  Afdal  excited  the  wonder  of  the  historian 
Gemal-ud-din,  who  tells  of  “ 6,000,000  D.  ($15,- 
000,000)  in  gold,  250  sacks  (five  bushels  each) 
of  Egyptian  silver  dirhems,  75,000  atlas  (satin) 
dresses,  30  camel  loads  of  gold  caskets  from  Irak, 
etc.,  together  with  an  amber  frame  or  lay  figure 
on  which  to  display  the  state  robes.”  The  ex- 
travagant descriptions  of  the  “ Thousand  and 
One  Nights  ” are  also  thought  to  reflect,  with 
greater  accuracy  than  popular  opinion  is  willing 
to  admit  as  possible,  the  conditions  of  luxury 
which  characterised  the  later  Mameluke  period. 

2.  Cruelty.  Islam  has  frequently  been  found 
guilty  of  barbaric  cruelty.  This  cruelty  may  be 
partly  condoned  by  the  customs  of  the  times  and 
especially  by  the  fact  that  it  was  usually  practised 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  87 


in  times  of  war;  for  war  is,  of  necessity,  a school 
of  cruelty.  Yet  the  cruelty  displayed  by  Moslems 
in  Egypt,  not  only  toward  Christians  but  even  to- 
ward Moslem  enemies,  was  so  frequent  in  its  oc- 
currence and  so  desperate  in  its  character  that  it 
casts  a dark  and  indelible  blot  upon  the  record  of 
Moslem  rule.  Sometimes  this  cruelty  was  dis- 
played in  a wholesale  fashion  against  a town  or 
community,  when  thousands  were  ruthlessly  slain. 
Sometimes  this  cruelty  was  displayed  to  a degree 
of  refinement  against  individuals,  as  when  Nasir 
imprisoned  Salar,  starved  him  for  eight  days,  and 
then  sent  him  three  covered  dishes.  When  the 
covers  were  raised  the  first  dish  was  found  to 
contain  gold  money,  the  second  silver,  and  the 
third  precious  stones  and  pearls.  On  the  twelfth 
day,  the  miserable  man  was  found  dead  with  a 
gna wed-off  finger  in  his  mouth.  To  multiply  ex- 
amples would  only  stir  our  hearts  unnecessarily 
with  horror. 

3.  Misgovernment.  The  history  of  Egypt  dur- 
ing the  twelve  centuries  of  Moslem  rule  is  for  the 
most  part  a story  of  war,  revolution,  and  tyranny. 
The  lengthy  reigns  of  such  rulers  as  Ibn-Tulun, 
the  Ikshid,  Moizz,  Saladin,  Beybars,  Nasir,  are 
conspicuous  exceptions  to  the  general  rule.  Even 
where  the  Moslem  sovereign  had  an  extended 
reign,  the  government  of  Egypt  was  often  dis- 
jointed because  committed  to  governors  who  sue- 


88  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


ceeded  each  other  with  remarkable  rapidity. 
Apart,  however,  from  this  fact,  the  administra- 
tion of  government  was,  for  the  most  part,  so 
inefficient  that  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  in  all 
her  history, — whether  under  the  domination  of 
ancient  Egyptian  rulers,  Assyrians,  Persians, 
Greeks,  or  Romans, — Egypt  ever  experienced 
such  impoverishment,  such  recurring  desolations 
of  famine,  plague,  and  insurrection,  as  she  ex- 
perienced during  these  twelve  centuries  of  Mos- 
lem rule.  The  pictures  which  Abd-el-Latif,  a 
Bagdad  physician,  who  attended  lectures  in  the 
Azhar  from  1194  to  1204,  has  handed  down,  of 
famine  conditions,  can  only  represent  a little  that 
we  do  know  of  a dark  background  of  misrule  and 
suffering  experienced  by  Egypt  during  these  cen- 
turies. Cannibalism  was  too  common,  he  tells  us, 
to  excite  surprise.  ‘‘  They  burned  in  Cairo, 
within  a few  days,  thirty  women  of  whom  there 
was  not  one  who  had  not  eaten  several  children.” 
The  responsibility  of  the  government  lay  in  the 
fact  that  only  too  frequently  these  famine  condi- 
tions were  due  to  an  inefficient  management  of 
irrigation  works  or  to  an  unsettled  government. 
The  Mamelukes  afford,  perhaps,  the  most  con- 
spicuous illustrations  of  misrule  and  tyranny. 
Street  fights  would  close  up  the  city  bazaars  some- 
times for  a week  at  a time.  Again  the  country 
side  would  be  ravaged,  as  when  7,000  Mamelukes 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  89 


rode  over  the  country  to  suppress,  in  their  own 
characteristic  way,  some  uprisings  of  Bedawis. 

4.  Slavery.  Slavery  has  characterised  Islam 
in  Egypt  throughout  its  whole  history.  We  noted 
how,  as  early  as  in  the  day  of  Amr  (652  a.d.),  the 
Nubian  kingdom  was  compelled  to  pay  a tribute 
of  360  slaves  to  the  Moslem  officer  at  Assuan,  and 
this  tribute  remained  in  force  for  more  than  six 
centuries.  In  addition  to  slaves  secured  by  tribute 
or  war,  there  were  large  purchases  of  slaves. 
Three  sorts  of  slaves  were  needed.  Slave  women 
to  fill  the  harems  of  the  wealthy;  slave  servants 
for  menial  work  or  as  attendants;  slave  soldiers  to 
recruit  the  army.  The  blacks  sold  chiefly  as  serv- 
ants, although  as  soldiers  they  were  not  to  be 
despised,  and  we  often  read  of  the  fierce  Suda- 
nese troops.  The  Mamelukes  were  white  slaves, 
— Circassians  and  Turks — who  were  organised 
into  body-guards  and  regiments.  The  theory  was 
that  such  troops  would  be  more  reliable  than 
those  made  up  of  turbulent  and  factious  Arabs. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  slavery  in  the  East 
carries  with  it  very  little  disgrace,  and  frequent 
instances  exist  of  slaves,  both  black  and  white, 
who,  at  the  death  of  their  masters,  stepped  into 
their  positions  of  leadership.  The  evil  of  slavery, 
therefore,  lies  not  in  its  creation  of  a race  prob- 
lem,— for  in  the  Orient  generally  race  feeling 
does  not  exist  even  between  the  white  Arab  races 


go  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


and  the  Negro  races, — but  in  the  abject  depend- 
ence of  a slave  upon  his  master  even  for  his 
life,  and  the  innumerable  evils  of  immorality 
which  spring  out  of  the  system. 

5.  Education.  Abdallah,  the  second  governor 
of  Egypt,  ordered  Arabic  used  in  all  public  docu- 
ments, and  the  Arabic  language,  both  in  official 
circles  and  among  the  people,  steadily  displaced 
the  Coptic.  The  latter  was  kept  up  among  the 
Egyptian  Christians  for  some  time,  but  in  a few 
centuries  must  have  ceased  to  be  used  save  by 
monks  or  in  the  Coptic  ritual. 

Moslem  education  has  uniformly  been  asso- 
ciated with  theology;  the  school  is  to  be  found  in 
the  mosque.  What  schools  existed  during  the 
first  three  centuries  of  the  Moslem  rule  in  Egypt, 
we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  Doubtless  some 
training  in  reading  was  given  to  Moslem  chil- 
dren. While  the  court  of  such  a man  as  Ibn 
Tulun  must  have  attracted  to  Egypt  some  men  of 
letters  from  abroad,  no  literary  character  of  first 
rank,  native  to  Egypt,  has  survived  in  history, 
from  this  period.  Tabari  and  Masudi  were  not 
worthy  of  being  placed  in  this  class.  In  973,  the 
Mosque  El-Azhar  was  completed  and  was  con- 
verted into  a university  in  988  by  El-Aziz.  This 
famous  institution  was  enlarged  from  time  to 
time  and  may  be  well  regarded  as  the  University 
of  Islam  for  the  entire  world. 


-ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  91 


In  1005,  Hakim  founded  the  “ Hall  of 
Science  ” where  Shia  theology  was  taught  and 
also  astronomy,  lexicology,  grammar,  poetry, 
criticism,  law,  and  medicine. 

The  formation  of  a library  which  continued 
through  the  reign  of  the  Fatimid  dynasty  brought 
together  more  than  100,000  books.  During  the 
tyranny  of  Nasir-ed-dawla,  however,  the  barba- 
rous Turks  ruthlessly  destroyed  or  bartered  away 
the  most  of  these  volumes,  while  their  bindings 
were  used  to  mend  shoes.  The  Fatimid  dynasty 
was  not  famous  for  literary  development,  due, 
perhaps,  to  the  fact  that  the  orthodox  writers 
shunned  the  heretical  court  with  its  Shia  in- 
fluences. . 

Under  Saladin,  both  literature  and  theology  re- 
ceived a great  impetus  and  several  theological 
colleges  were  founded. 

It  is  not  possible  here  to  follow  in  detail  the 
development  of  learning  under  Moslem  influences 
in  Egypt,  but  it  must  be  confessed  that  here,  as 
elsewhere,  the  results  of  Moslem  domination  are 
disappointing.  The  amount  of  the  production  is 
not  nearly  so  much  to  be  criticised  as  the  charac- 
ter of  it.  Revolving  about  the  Koran  as  its  centre, 
limited  largely  to  technical  literary  studies,  broad 
in  its  outlook  only  in  so  far  as  it  relates  to  his- 
tory, unphilosophic  and  unscientific, — it  presents 
a sorry  picture  to  set  alongside  of  the  intellectual 


92  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


activity  which  existed  in  Egypt,  particularly  at 
Alexandria  in  640  a.d.,  when  Amr  invaded 
Egypt. 

6.  Morals.  The  morality  of  Islam  has  rarely 
received  praise  save  as  it  has  been  placed  over 
against  the  vices  of  Western  civilisation  or  the 
greater  degradation  of  heathenism.  We  could 
not  therefore  expect  to  find  much  to  rejoice  over 
in  the  moral  influence  of  the  Moslem  occupation 
of  Egypt. 

Honesty  does  appear,  here  and  there,  in  some 
rare  Kadi  or  occasional  wezir,  but  for  the  most 
part  the  history  of  Moslem  Egyptian  actions  pre- 
sents a record  of  treachery  parried  only  by  greater 
treachery,  officers  displaced  or  poisoned  to  make 
room  for  those  more  trusted  because  less  experi- 
enced, and  a wearisome  succession  of  harem  in- 
trigues. During  the  reign  of  a few  men  such  as 
the  Caliph  Mustansir  or  Saladin,  honest  dealing 
and  even  generosity  characterised  court  and  busi- 
ness life,  but  never  did  these  qualities  become  in- 
grained in  Moslem  character  in  any  permanent 
fashion. 

Islam  has  often  been  commended  for  its  ex- 
clusion of  intemperance,  and  it  is  true  that  the 
first  missionaries  to  Egypt  found  the  Copts,  not 
the  Moslems,  disgracing  themselves  by  their 
drunkenness.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  to  be  re- 
membered that  if  the  Prophet  held  a tight  rein  on 


.ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  93 


his  followers  in  the  matter  of  strong  drink,  he 
set  practically  no  restraint  upon  them  in  the  mat- 
ter of  sexual  indulgences.  Yet,  even  in  regard  to 
drink,  Moslem  history  affords  numerous  ex- 
amples of  intemperate  living.  We  read  of  the 
Governor  Kurra,  in  the  seventh  century,  who  had 
wine  brought  into  the  sacred  precincts  of  the 
Mosque  of  Amr  and  tippled  all  night  to  the  strains 
of  music.  In  904,  Harun  came  to  his  end  while 
in  a sleep  of  intoxication.  In  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, the  famous  caliph  Mustansir  is  reported  to 
have  erected  a pavilion  in  imitation  of  the  Kaaba 
at  Mecca.  The  sacred  well  of  Zemzem  was  rep- 
resented by  a pond  full  of  wine,  and  there  the 
caliph  sat  and  drank,  saying,  '‘This  is  pleasanter 
than  staring  at  a black  stone,  listening  to  the 
drone  of  the  muezzin,  and  drinking  bad  water ! ” 
If  the  “Thousand  and  One  Nights”  give  us  a 
true  picture  of  the  home  life  of  the  later  Moslem 
rulers,  then  there  was  certainly  no  lack  of  drink- 
ing in  the  Mameluke  period  also. 

Morality,  as  the  word  is  commonly  used  in 
Christian  parlance  in  the  sense  of  loyalty  to  one 
legal  wife,  can  scarcely  be  applied  to  Moslem 
life,  for,  as  Zwemer  remarks,  “ a Moslem  who 
lives  up  to  his  privileges  and  who  follows  the  ex- 
ample of  ‘ the  saints  ^ in  his  calendar,  can  have 
four  wives  and  any  number  of  slave-concubines.” 
But  this  legalised  immorality  which  the  law  of 


94  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Islam  permits  and  the  example  of  Mohammed 
doubly  sanctions,  was  introduced  into  the  Nile 
Valley  by  Moslem  domination,  and  is  to-day,  by 
its  degradation  of  womanhood,  the  most  serious 
problem  of  missions,  as  it  is  also  the  greatest  bar- 
rier to  progress.  If  it  is  said,  “ Comparatively 
few  Moslems  to-day  have  more  than  one  wife,” 
the  reply  may  be  made,  ‘‘Yes,  if  you  add  the 
statement,  ‘ at  one  time.’  ” The  reason  is  to  be 
found  in  the  expense  involved,  on  the  one  hand, 
in  the  maintenance  of  so  large  a household,  and 
in  the  fact,  on  the  other  hand,  that  divorce 
provides  a more  economical  and  convenient 
form  of  indulgence.  Divorce  is  a very  simple 
process.  A man  need  merely  say  to  the 
woman,  “ Thou  art  divorced,”  and  lo,  she  is  di- 
vorced. The  prevalence  of  divorce  may  be  in- 
ferred from  a statement  made  recently  by  a 
prominent  Moslem,  that  ninety-five  per  cent, 
of  Mohammedan  wives  in  Egypt  experience 
divorce. 

That  Islam  introduced  into  Egypt  the  social  cus- 
tom which  obtains  to-day  of  the  seclusion  of  wo- 
man, is  another  commentary  upon  the  standards 
of  morality.  For  this  seclusion  was  originally 
intended  to  carry  with  it  enforced  morality. 
Where  faith  in  chastity  ended,  the  seclusion  of 
woman  began.  It  does  not  follow,  of  course,  that 
the  doing  away  of  this  custom  of  secluding 


MOSLEMS  AT  PRAYER  COSTUME  OF  EGYPTIAN  WOMAN 


■ ’ f *_• 


r ■ i^r  ^ 

• 'v'T.a 

■■  ' 


■ 

; iVn  'J-b 


.#^-4 


ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  95 

woman  will  in  itself  establish  honour  and  purity 
of  life. 

It  is  in  his  work  “ Cairo/'  where  he  is  dealing 
specifically  with  modern  Egyptian  conditions, 
that  Stanley  Lane-Poole  says: 

“ The  fatal  spot  in  Mohammedanism  is  the 
position  of  women.  Women  in  the  East  are  the 
rich  man’s  toys  and  the  poor  man’s  drudges. 
Their  whole  training  is  one  vast  blunder.  They 
are  brought  up  with  the  sole  aim  and  object  of 
getting  a husband,  and  the  objectionable  acquire- 
ments of  the  Ghawazy  dancing  girls  are  held  up 
to  them  as  the  fittest  qualifications  of  a wife. 
They  are  completely  secluded  from  the  other  sex, 
save  in  the  cases  of  their  own  intimate  relations, 
and  never  see  a strange  man  without  the  motive 
of  marriage.  The  degraded  view  of  womanhood 
taken  by  women  themselves,  of  course  reacts  upon 
the  men.  To  them  a woman  is  desirable  solely 
on  account  of  her  sex,  and  any  idea  of  chivalry, 
so  potent  an  element  in  the  noblest  manhood,  be- 
comes impossible  in  the  Moslem  social  state.  And 
this  false  relation  between  husband  and  wife 
makes  itself  felt  in  the  bringing  up  of  children. 
The  early  years  of  childhood,  perhaps  the  most 
critical  in  a whole  life,  are  tainted  by  the  corrupt 
influences  of  the  harem,  where  the  boy  learns  that 
sensual  attitude  towards  women  which  is  the 
curse  of  his  after-life,  and  the  girl  acquires  those 


96  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 

abandoned  notions  of  the  requirements  of  the 
opposite  sex  which  spoil  her  for  the  highest  func- 
tions of  womanhood.  The  refining  power  of  a 
lady  is  seldom  possessed  or  exercised  in  the  East. 
The  restraining  and  purifying  influence  of  wife 
on  husband,  of  mother  on  child,  of  a hostess  upon 
her  guests,  is  never  felt  in  a Mohammedan  state. 
In  a word,  the  finest  springs  of  society  are  want- 
ing. . . . The  worst  of  this  deplorable  state  of 
things  is  that  there  seems  no  reasonable  prospect 
of  improvement.  The  Mohammedan  social  sys- 
tem is  so  thoroughly  bound  up  with  the  religion 
that  it  appears  an  almost  hopeless  task  to  attempt 
to  separate  the  two.  ...  As  long  as  the  Moham- 
medan religion  exists,  the  social  life  with  which, 
unfortunately,  it  has  become  associated,  will 
probably  survive ; and  while  the  latter  prevails  in 
Egypt,  we  cannot  expect  the  higher  results  of 
civilisation.’' 

Can  nothing,  then,  be  said  in  positive  commen- 
dation of  Moslem  rule  in  Egypt?  Yes,  two  quali- 
ties of  Islam  in  Egypt  are  worthy  of  praise : The 
courage  and  the  missionary  ^eal  displayed  by  the 
Moslems.  It  was  just  these  two  qualities  that 
Egypt  and  Christianity  in  the  Nile  Valley  had 
lost,  before  the  Arab  invasion.  It  was  just  these 
two  qualities  that  enabled  Mohammedanism  to 
triumph  not  only  in  Egypt,  but  over  one-seventh 


- ISLAM  IN  THE  NILE  VALLEY  97 


of  the  human  race.  No  one  who  will  read  of 
Amr’s  bold  entry  into  Egypt,  or  of  Saladin’s 
gallant  attacks  upon  the  Crusaders,  or  of  Bey- 
bars’s  splendid  and  successful  resistance  of  the 
Mongols,  will  deny  to  the  Moslem  rulers  of  the 
Nile  Valley  their  meed  of  praise  for  bravery  on 
the  battlefield  and  courage  in  the  face  of  death. 

As  to  missionary  zeal,  the  very  conquest  of 
Egypt,  the  subsequent  conquest  of  Nubia,  the  en- 
trance of  Islam  into  Abyssinia,  the  Sudan,  and  all 
North  Africa,  all  testify  abundantly.  It  may 
often  be  hard  to  distinguish  between  a true  zeal 
for  the  faith  and  the  spirit  of  greed — greed  for 
gold  and  a larger  kingdom — but  in  Saladin,  at 
least,  we  have  a picture  of  loyalty  to  the  faith 
and  a religious  zeal  which  the  modern  Christian 
will  do  well  to  emulate  within  the  higher  sphere 
of  Christian  missionary  service.  “ To  wage 
God's  war,"  says  his  biographer,  “ was  a genuine 
passion  with  him;  his  whole  heart  was  wrapped 
up  in  it,  and  to  this  cause  he  devoted  himself,  body 
and  soul.  During  those  last  years,  he  could 
hardly  speak  or  think  of  anything  else,  and  he 
sacrificed  every  pleasure,  comfort,  and  domestic 
happiness,  to  its  service.  He  even  dreamed  of 
wider  battles  for  the  faith.  ‘ What  is  the  most 
glorious  death? ' he  asked  of  his  friend,  who  re- 
plied, ‘ To  die  in  the  Path  of  God.’  ‘ Then  I 
strive  for  the  door  of  the  most  glorious  of 


98  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


deaths/  said  Saladin.’'  And  his  life  abundantly 
proved  the  truth  of  his  words.  As  another  asks, 
“ If  so  much  was  done  in  the  name  of  Moham- 
med, what  should  we  not  dare  to  do  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ? '' 

We  have  now  seen  Islam  taking  possession  of 
Egypt.  We  have  sketched  the  first  conquest  of 
the  country  by  Amr.  We  have  traced  the  steady 
reduction  of  the  Christian  population,  from  al- 
most ten  million  to  less  than  one  million,  under 
the  influence  of  oppressive  taxation,  obnoxious 
legislation,  persecution,  political  disturbance  and 
famine,  inter-iuarriage  with  Moslems,  and  Arab 
immigration.  We  have  also  seen  the  extension 
and  development  of  Moslem  rule  during  twelve 
centuries,  and  noted  the  luxury,  cruelty,  misgov- 
ernment,  slavery,  education,  moral  character, 
courage,  and  missionary  zeal  which  characterised 
it.  This  survey  brings  us,  by  the'  highway  of 
history,  to  modern  Egypt.  This  brief  historical 
survey  will  not  have  been  in  vain  if  it  makes 
possible  a better  apprehension  of  the  true  genius 
of  the  two  religions,  which  are  the  products  of 
the  two  periods  we  have  considered,  and  with 
which  the  modern  missionary  in  the  Nile  Valley 
must  deal. 


Ill 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS 
HE  entrance  of  Christianity  into  Egypt 


at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era 


through  the  preaching  of  John  Mark,  or 
other  early  missionaries,  has  already  been  re- 
ferred to.  The  spread  of  Christianity  through- 
out the  entire  country  is  an  inspiring  proof  of  the 
conquering  power  of  a missionary  gospel.  The 
subsequent  decadence  of  the  faith,  and  its  almost 
entire  displacement  by  Mohammedanism,  teach 
us  sober  and  needful  lessons  on  the  imperative 
necessity  of  safeguarding  not  only  doctrine,  but 
a pure  spiritual  life  and  an  earnest  missionary 
spirit  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  lest  her  ‘‘  candle- 
stick ” be  removed  out  of  its  place. 

After  this  almost  complete  religious  lapse  of 
Egypt  from  Christianity,  we  find,  in  modern 
times,  two  missionary  efforts  deserving  of  men- 
tion, even  though  their  continuity  was  broken, 
and  each  effort  ended  in  an  abandonment  of  the 
work.  The  one  was  the  Moravian  effort,  which 
had  its  beginning  in  1752  and  lasted  for  thirty 
years ; the  other  was  the  effort  of  the  Church  Mis- 


99 


100  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


sionary  Society,  initiated  about  1819  and  lasting 
for  some  three  and  a half  decades. 

THE  MORAVIANS 

By  the  birth  of  Zinzendorf  in  1700,  God  was 
preparing  to  launch  one  of  the  purest  spiritual 
and  most  devoted  missionary  movements  that  the 
world  has  known.  And  Zinzendorf’s  life,  from 
its  very  beginning,  ran  true  to  the  divine  pur- 
pose, apparently  without  any  wasteful  digression 
in  sin.  At  six  weeks  of  age,  he  was  taken  into 
the  arms  of  his  dying  father  and  consecrated  to 
the  service  of  Christ.  “ Already  in  my  child- 
hood,” wrote  Zinzendorf,  “ I loved  the  Saviour 
and  had  abundant  intercourse  with  Him.  In  my 
fourth  year,  I began  to  seek  God  earnestly  and 
determined  to  become  a true  servant  of  Jesus 
Christ.”  Even  as  a boy  at  school  we  find  him 
founding  the  Order  of  the  Mustard  Seed,” 
whose  members  agreed : ( i ) to  be  kind  to  all 
men;  (2)  to  seek  their  welfare;  (3)  to  seek  to 
lead  them  to  God  and  to  Christ.  Each  member 
wore  a ring,  bearing  the  motto,  ‘‘No  man  liveth 
unto  himself.”  Before  he  left  school,  we  read 
that  “ he  entered  with  an  intimate  friend  into  a 
covenant  for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen,  espe- 
cially such  as  would  not  be  cared  for  by  others.” 
It  was  this  man,  whose  life  witnessed  thoroughly 
to  the  exclamation  of  his  lips,  “ I have  but  one 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS 


lOI 


passion — ’tis  He,  and  He  only,’' — it  was  this 
man,  Count  Zinzendorf,  who  was  used  of  God  to 
set  in  motion  missionary  impulses  which  have 
been  felt  throughout  the  world,  part  of  which  en- 
ter also  into  the  narrative  of  missionary  work 
in  Egypt. 

It  was  in  1750  that  missions  to  Egypt  were  de- 
cided upon.  It  was  the  knowledge  of  the  exist- 
ence in  Egypt,  and  especially  in  Abyssinia,  of  a 
Christian  Church,  to  whom  the  helpful  hand  of 
sympathy  and  fellowship  might  be  extended,  that 
led  to  this  undertaking.  In  1752,  Frederic  Wil- 
liam Hocker,  M.D.,  arrived  in  Egypt,  commis- 
sioned to  remain  in  Cairo  for  a time,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  acquiring  some  knowledge  of  the  Arabic 
language  and  preparing  for  the  farther  and  more 
difficult  journey  to  Abyssinia. 

The  missionary  records  of  the  Moravian 
brethren  show  that  the  Egypt  of  that  time  was 
quite  different  from  the  Egypt  of  to-day,  as  to 
convenience  of  travel,  security  of  life  and 
property,  and  religious  liberty.  The  journey 
from  Alexandria  to  Cairo  involved  a two  days’ 
ride  along  the  sandy  shore  from  Alexandria  to 
Rosetta,  then  a journey  by  open  boat  up  the 
river  to  Cairo,  requiring  two  days  more.  Dr. 
Hocker  was  also  required  to  don  a sort  of  Turk- 
ish dress — loose  red  trousers,  yellow  slippers,  a 
flowing  robe,  and  a great  fur  cap.  “ Thus  ac- 


102  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


coutred/’  he  says,  “ I rode  into  the  city  of  Grand 
Cairo  upon  an  ass.  All  this  is  prescribed  by 
positive  law ; none  but  Mohammedans  are  allowed 
to  ride  on  horseback,  and  they  too,  as  well  as  the 
Jews  and  Christians,  are  subject  to  particular 
regulations.  ...  In  order  to  prevent  or  to  pun- 
ish any  irregularity  in  these  respects,  the  streets 
are  constantly  patrolled  by  a band  of  from  twenty 
to  thirty  Janissaries;  and  every  offence  is  sum- 
marily visited  with  stripes,  or  even  with  loss  of 
life.” 

Soon  after  arriving  in  Cairo,  Dr.  Hocker 
rented  a house,  which  another  missionary  de- 
scribed as  “small,  exposed  to  the  noise  of  the 
streets,  and  in  so  bad  repair  that  the  dust  enters 
at  all  crevices.”  Here,  however,  he  pursued  the 
study  of  the  Arabic  language,  practised  medicine, 
and  laboured  to  gather  all  possible  information 
that  might  be  of  service  to  him  in  the  ’proposed 
journey  to  Abyssinia.  The  following  entry  casts 
a flood  of  light  upon  this  devoted  missionary’s 
spiritual  life  during  these  lonely  months  and 
years:  “Of  spiritual  intercourse  with  such  as  I 
could  consider  Brethren  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  I was 
altogether  deprived,  a loss  which  could  only  be 
made  up  by  communion  with  my  Saviour.  With 
Him  I sought  comfort,  the  revival  of  my  faith, 
and  power  to  follow  Him  whithersoever  He 
might  lead  me.  He  graciously  heard  my  prayer, 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS  103 


gave  me  to  feel  His  peace,  and  enabled  me 
through  the  merits  of  His  early  exile  in  this 
very  land,  to  feel  myself  at  home  among  its 
inhabitants/’ 

After  a whole  year  of  patient  study  of  the 
Arabic  language,  he  ventured  to  present  himself, 
with  the  letter  which  had  been  given  to  him  by 
Count  Zinzendorf,  to  the  Coptic  Patriarch,  who 
received  him  in  a very  kindly  way.  In  December, 
1753,  Dr.  Hocker  went  to  Constantinople  to  se- 
cure such  credentials  as  seemed  necessary  to  en- 
able him  to  enter  Abyssinia.  A year  later,  he 
was  back  again  in  Cairo.  In  1756,  George  Pilder, 
another  Moravian  missionary,  joined  Dr.  Hocker 
in  Cairo.  Henry  Cossart,  who  joined  the  mission 
in  the  following  year,  does  not  seem  to  have  con- 
tinued for  any  length  of  time. 

In  1758,  Hocker  and  Pilder  started  upon  the 
long-contemplated  journey  to  Abyssinia.  They 
sailed  from  Suez,  itself  a three  days’  journey 
from  Cairo.  After  sailing  southward  for  eleven 
days,  they  suffered  shipwreck  and  spent  nineteen 
days  on  a desert  island.  They  got  away,  after 
having  been  “ in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  in 
the  sea,  in  perils  among  false  brethren,  in  labour 
and  travail,  in  watchings  often,  in  hunger  and 
thirst.”  Having  lost  practically  their  entire  out- 
fit, they  decided,  after  further  trials  at  Yembo 
and  Jeddah,  that  they  should  return  to  Egypt. 


104  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Their  journey  from  Kosseir  on  the  Red  Sea  over- 
land to  Kena  on  the  Nile,  and  their  experiences 
with  pirates  on  the  river,  are  a sufficient  com- 
mentary upon  the  condition  of  the  country  and 
the  devotion  of  these  early  missionaries. 

This  effort  to  reach  Abyssinia  left  Pilder  a 
physical  wreck.  On  his  return  to  Cairo  in  1759, 
he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  country,  and  Dr. 
Hocker  was  again  the  only  missionary  in  the 
country.  In  1861,  he  also  left  Egypt  for  Europe, 
so  that  for  seven  years  all  missionary  work  was 
suspended. 

In  1768,  we  meet  with  another  Moravian  mis- 
sionary, John  Henry  Danke,  who  arrives  in 
Egypt  with  Dr.  Hocker.  His  was  a rare  and 
beautiful  Christian  character.  His  love  for  men 
shines  out  in  his  diary:  “ Sailing  on  the  Nile  be- 
tween Rosetta  and  Cairo,  I often  shed  tears  of 
compassion  to  see  them  (the  Moslems)  lounging 
in  the  fields;  others  washing  themselves  in  the 
Nile  and  praying  on  the  shore.  Often  did  I sigh, 
Oh,  Lord  Jesus!  let  their  souls  be  washed  in  Thy 
precious  blood,  which  Thou  hast  shed  for  them 
also  I”  In  another  place  he  writes,  “ Speaking 
farther  of  the  love  of  Jesus,  my  heart  grew 
warm,  and  I could  not  refrain  from  shedding 
tears.’’ 

Danke’s  chief  work  seems  to  have  been  among 
the  Copts  of  Behnessa.  He  was  sorely  tried  by 


. EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS  105 


the  formal it}^  of  their  religion.  They  put  to  him 
many  questions.  “ Among  others,”  he  writes, 
“ they  asked,  ' Do  you  at  infant  baptism,  make 
use  of  frankincense,  myrrh,  and  oil  ? ’ ' Do  you 

perform  Mass  and  sacrifice  as  often  as  you  go  to 
church?’  'Do  your  priests,  whenever  they  meet 
any  person  in  the  church,  put  their  hands  upon 
them,  and  impart  absolution  ? ’ ' Does  every  one 
of  you  pray  Kyrie  eleison  200  times?’  'At 
every  prayer,  how  often  do  you  make  the  sign  of 
the  cross  ? ’ ' Do  you  worship  all  the  saints  ? ’ 

' Do  you  fast  two  days  every  week?  ’ ” His  tact 
and  skill  in  avoiding  useless  discussion  is  then 
seen,  for  he  adds,  " The  Lord  gave  me  grace  to 
hear  and  answer  them  patiently.  I then  said, 
' You  have  put  a great  variety  of  questions  to 
me.  Permit  me  now  to  ask  you  in  turn:  Have 
you  never  read  that  in  Christ  Jesus,  nothing 
availeth  but  a new  creature?  ...  You  have  at 
least  read  that  Jesus  alone  is  the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life.’  ' Yes,’  said  they,  ' we  have.’ 
' Then,’  I added,  ' let  us  first  of  all  treat  of  this 
subject.’  ” 

His  labours  were  not  in  vain.  Many  were 
brought  to  a spiritual  apprehension  of  salvation 
through  Christ.  Of  two,  he  writes,  " What  I told 
them  of  the  happiness  of  those  who  live  in  the  en- 
joyment of  the  love  of  Jesus,  seemed  to  penetrate 
their  hearts.  Both  arose,  fell  about  my  neck,  and 


io6  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


said  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  God  bless  you. 
Master;  we  never  heard  the  like  before/  ” 
Among  those  whose  lives  were  quickened,  we 
note  a man  of  considerable  influence,  Mikhail 
Bishara,  the  chief  justice  of  the  village,  and  both 
secretar}/”  and  tax-gatherer  of  Ali  Bey.  At  other 
times  again,  Danke  met  with  open  criticism, 
“ Why,  you  are  no  Christian;  for  you  do  not  fast 
in  your  country.  Are  you  come  among  us  to 
abolish  our  fasts?”  Criticism  often  developed 
into  opposition  and  persecution,  for,  to  lift  men 
out  of  the  deadness  of  Christian  formality  is  a 
real  attack  upon  the  powers  of  darkness,  and 
these  forces  will  be  marshalled  to  prevent  any 
loss  of  territory.  On  the  other  hand  again,  the 
purity  of  Danke’s  teachings  appealed  to  others 
farther  removed  from  the  Christian  faith.  A 
Moslem  sheikh  to  whom  he  had  spoken,  ‘‘  listened 
with  visible  satisfaction,  and  then  said,  ‘ Such 
Christians  as  you  are  sure  to  get  to  heaven;  but 
full  as  sure  will  the  Copts  go  to  hell  with  all  their 
fasting;  because  they  hope  to  deceive  God  by  it. 
When  they  fast  they  eat  bread,  lentils,  beans,  oil, 
and  the  like;  when  they  do  not  fast  they  eat  but- 
ter, beef,  and  mutton,  as  though  it  were  not  the 
same  Creator  that  had  made  all  these  things.’  ” 
In  July,  1772,  Danke  left  his  field  of  work  in 
and  about  Behnessa  and  went  down  to  Cairo  quite 
ill.  In  October,  he  passed  into  the  presence  of 


-EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS  107 


his  Lord,  having  had,  like  Him,  a brief  ministry 
of  but  three  years. 

Of  John  Antes,  who  joined  the  Mission  in 
1770,  and  of  George  Henry  Wieniger,  who 
joined  it  in  1774,  we  cannot  speak  at  length. 
Both  laboured  in  the  field  to  which  Danke  had 
been  assigned.  Antes  endured  severe  and  unjust 
bastinadoing  once. 

The  following  account  of  that  experience  taken 
from  the  diary  of  Antes  will  illustrate  both  the 
perilous  conditions  under  which  these  Moravians 
missionaries  laboured  as  well  as  the  devotion  and 
heroism  of  their  missionary  service : 

“ On  taking  a walk  outside  of  the  city  one  day, 
in  1779,  I had  the  misfortune  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  a Bey,  who,  in  the  hope  of  extracting 
a large  sum  of  money  from  me,  treated  me  in  a 
most  cruel  manner.  On  returning  from  a walk 
in  company  with  the  Venetian  consul,  we  were 
observed  by  some  mamelukes  who  immediately 
came  in  full  gallop  towards  us  with  drawn 
swords,  followed  by  some  footmen.  They  im- 
mediately stripped  us  of  our  fur  coats,  shawls, 
and  whatever  else  we  had  about  us  of  any  value, 
demanding  forty  pounds  ($200)  and  threatened 
to  take  us  before  their  master  unless  we  immedi- 
ately gave  them  the  money.  I told  them  we  had 
no  such  sum  about  us,  and  taking  out  my  purse 
offered  it  to  them.  They  at  first  took  it,  but  find- 


io8  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


ing  it  contained  only  twenty-five  shillings  ($6.25) 
threw  it  back  with  disdain,  saying,  ^ dahab, 
dahab/  i.e.,  gold,  gold.  I told  them  I had  no  gold 
with  me,  but  if  they  would  go  to  my  house  I 
would  give  them  some.  Upon  this  they  cursed 
me  and  being  joined  by  ten  more  of  the  gang, 
they  again  demanded  gold.  I again  answered 
that  I had  none  with  me.  At  last  their  chief 
accosted  me,  ‘ Go  you  home  and  fetch  the  gold, 
but  we  will  keep  your  companion  here  as  a host- 
age and  if  you  do  not  return  I will  cut  off  his 
head.’  When  I saw  the  poor  man  crying  and 
trembling  all  over,  I could  not  think  of  leaving 
him  in  the  hands  of  the  tigers  and  escaping  my- 
self. I therefore  told  him  to  go,  and  fetch  the 
money,  and  I would  stay  with  them.  He  had 
scarcely  advanced  a few  steps  when  the  servants 
fell  upon  him  and  stripped  him  of  a few  remain- 
ing pieces  of  clothing  he  had  left,  so  that  he 
escaped  nearly  naked  to  the  town.  By  this  time 
the  sun  had  set  and  it  began  to  grow  dark;  and 
as  the  mamelukes  durst  not  stay  away  from  their 
master  till  my  companion  returned,  one  of  them 
rode  up  to  the  Bey  and  told  him  they  had  seized 
some  Europeans  from  whom  something  might  be 
got.  The  man  soon  returned  with  orders  that  I 
should  be  brought  before  the  Bey;  and  taking  me 
between  their  horses  they  dragged  me  to  the 
place  where  he  was  sitting.  When  I came  near 


. EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS  109 

him  I addressed  him  with  the  usual  phrase : ‘ I 
am  under  your  protection/  to  which,  if  they  are 
not  maliciously  inclined,  they  answer:  ‘You  are 
welcome.’  But  instead  of  answering  at  all  he 
stared  furiously  at  me  and  said,  ‘Who  are  you  ? ’ 
I replied,  ‘ I am  an  Englishman.’  ‘ What  are  you 
doing  here  in  the  night?  You  must  be  a thief. 
Aye,  aye,  most  likely  the  one  that  did  such  and 
such  a thing  the  other  day.’  I replied,  ‘ I was 
entering  the  city  gates  half  an  hour  before  sunset 
when  I was  taken  by  your  mamelukes  and  de- 
tained till  now  and  still  it  is  not  an  hour  after 
sunset,  which  is  the  regular  time  for  shutting  the 
gates.’  Without  replying  he  pointed  to  one  of 
his  officers  to  take  me  to  the  castle,  a building  at 
some  distance  out  of  town.  Having  given  his 
orders  for  my  removal  I wanted  to  say  a few 
words  more,  but  was  prevented  by  a horde  of 
servants,  who  are  always  glad  to  insult  a Eu- 
ropean. One  gave  me  a kick  on  one  side,  another 
on  the  other  side,  one  spat  in  my  face,  while  an- 
other put  a rope  around  my  neck  made  of  fila- 
ments of  the  date  tree,  which  are  much  rougher 
than  horse-hair.  By  this  rope  a fellow  in  rags 
was  ordered  to  draw  me  along,  and  another  on 
horseback  armed  with  sword  and  pistols  to 
guard  me.  Arriving  at  the  castle  I was  put  into 
a dungeon  half  under  ground,  a large  chain  was 
put  around  my  neck,  secured  by  a padlock,  and 


no  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


the  other  end  fastened  to  a piece  of  timber. 
Nothing  could  induce  the  servants  to  give  me  pen 
and  ink  to  write  to  my  friends  in  town,  though 
they  furnished  me  with  drinking  water.  In 
about  half  an  hour  the  Bey  arrived  with  his 
retinue,  lighted  flambeaux  being  carried  before 
him.  He  alighted,  went  up-stairs  into  a room, 
sat  down  in  a corner,  and  all  his  people  placed 
themselves  in  a circle  around  him.  I was  then 
sent  for,  unchained,  and  led  up-stairs  by  two 
men.  On  the  stairs  I heard  the  instruments  for 
the  bastinado  rattle  and  guessed  what  I had  to 
expect.  Upon  entering  I found  a small  Persian 
rug  spread  for  me.  This  was  a mark  of  civility 
only  due  to  a gentleman,  for  the  common  people 
when  about  to  receive  the  bastinado  are  thrown 
upon  the  bare  ground.  The  Bey  again  asked  me 
who  I was.  ‘ An  Englishman,’  was  my  reply. 
‘ What  is  your  business  ?’  ‘ I live  by  what  God 

sends,’  I said.  He  exclaimed,  ‘ Throw  him 
down.’  I asked,  'What  have  I done?’  ‘How, 
you  dog,’  answered  he.  ‘ Dare  you  ask  me  what 
you  have  done?  Throw  him  down.’  The  serv- 
ants then  threw  me  flat  on  my  face,  and  with  a 
strong  staff  about  six  feet  long  having  a piece  of 
iron  chain  fixed  to  both  ends,  confined  my  feet 
above  the  ankles,  when  the  two  men — one  on  each 
side — twisting  staff  and  chain  together  turned 
up  the  soles  of  my  feet,  and  being  provided  with 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS  in 


what  is  called  a ' corhaje  ' (or  strap  of  hippo- 
potamus skin),  waited  for  their  master’s  orders. 
When  they  had  placed  me  in  this  position,  an 
officer  came  and  whispered  in  my  ear : ‘ Give  him 
a thousand  dollars  and  he  will  let  you  go.’  I re- 
flected that  should  I now  offer  anything  he  would 
probably  send  one  of  his  men  with  me  to  receive 
it,  and  that  I should  be  obliged  to  open  my  strong 
chest,  where  I kept  not  only  my  own  money,  but 
that  of  others,  and  that  all  that  was  in  it  should 
be  carried  away.  Being  determined  not  to  in- 
volve others  in  my  misfortune,  I answered : ‘ I 
have  no  money  to  give  ’ — upon  which  he  ordered 
them  to  begin.  This  they  did  at  first  pretty 
moderately,  but  I immediately  gave  up  myself  for 
lost,  well  knowing  that  my  life  depended  entirely 
on  the  caprice  of  an  unfeeling  tyrant  and,  after 
the  many  instances  of  unrelenting  cruelty  which 
I had  heard  of  and  seen,  I had  therefore  no  ref- 
uge but  the  mercy  of  God,  and  commended  my 
soul  to  Him,  and  felt  His  support  so  powerfully 
that  all  fear  of  death  was  taken  from  me,  and  I 
could  cheerfully  resign  my  life  into  His  hands. 
After  beating  me  for  some  time,  the  officer  again 
whispered  the  word  ‘ money.’  I again  answered, 
‘ I have  none.’  Then  they  laid  on  more  roughly, 
and  every  stroke  felt  like  the  application  of  a red- 
hot  poker.  The  officer,  thinking  that  though  I 
had  no  money  I might  have  some  valuable  goods. 


1 12  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


once  more  whispered  to  that  effect.  Knowing 
that  elegant  English  firearms  were  at  a premium 
with  such  persons,  I offered  a valuable  blunder- 
buss mounted  with  silver,  which  I could  get  at 
without  opening  my  chest.  The  Bey  observed 
me  speaking  to  the  officer  and  inquired  what  I 
said.  On  learning,  he  exclaimed  with  a sneer, 

‘ Only  a blunderbuss?  Beat  the  dog.'  Now  they 
began  to  strike  with  all  their  might,  and  I thought 
they  would  beat  me  to  death,  and  commended 
my  soul  to  Jesus  Christ,  my  Saviour.  When  at 
length  the  Bey  saw  that  no  money  could  be  ex- 
torted from  me,  he  thought  probably  that  after 
all,  I might  in  reality  be  a poor  man,  and,  as  I 
had  done  nothing  to  deserve  such  punishment,  he 
ordered  them  to  let  me  go.  I was  obliged  to 
walk  down  to  my  prison,  the  chain  being  again 
put  on  my  neck.  Upon  my  asking  the  servant 
the  reason  for  this  precaution,  since  in  the  present 
state  of  my  feet  there  was  little  danger  of  my 
running  away,  their  reply  was : ‘ The  Bey  will 
have  it  so.'  In  about  half  an  hour  the  messenger 
'came  with  orders  to  bring  me  up  again.  The 
servants  then  took  the  chain  off  and  carried  me 
till  I was  near  the  door,  when  I was  told  to  walk 
in,  else  the  Bey  would  beat  me  again.  When  I 
came  before  the  Bey  he  asked  one  of  his  officers: 
‘ Is  this  the  man  you  told  me  of?'  The  officer, 
stepping  up  to  me  and  staring  me  in  the  face,  as 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS 


113 

if  narrowly  to  inspect  my  features,  on  a sudden 
lifted  up  his  hands  and  cried  out : ‘ By  Allah,  it 
is!  Ah!  this  is  the  best  man  in  all  Cairo,  and 
my  very  particular  friend.  Oh!  how  sorry  I am 
that  I was  not  here  before  to  tell  you  so,’  with 
other  expressions  of  the  same  kind.  The  Bey  an- 
swered : ‘ Then  take  him.  I give  him  to  you,  and 
if  he  has  lost  anything  see  to  get  it  restored.’  I 
had  never  in  my  life  seen  the  officer,  and  soon 
perceived  it  was  altogether  a deception  in  order  to 
get  rid  of  me.  Once  more  I was  obliged  to  walk 
out  of  the  Bey’s  sight,  when  the  servants  of  my 
pretended  friend  took  me  up  and  carried  me  to 
his  house,  at  a considerable  distance.  Here  he 
offered  me  something  to  eat,  and  made  up  a tol- 
erably decent  bed,  which  was  the  more  welcome 
to  me  as  the  greater  part  of  my  clothes  had  been 
torn  off  my  back  and  I felt  very  cold.  All  I got 
returned  was  an  old  cashmere  shawl.  I asked 
him  whether  what  happened  to  me  was  the 
boasted  hospitality  of  his  countrymen  to  stran- 
gers. I got  nothing  for  answer  but : Min  Allah! 
Maktiib!  Miikaddar! ' i.e.,  ‘ It  is  from  God;  it  is 
written;  it  is  in  the  book  of  fate.’  He,  however, 
took  nothing  amiss,  but  anointed  my  feet  with 
some  healing  balsam  and  tied  rags  about  them. 
I then  lay  down  and  spent  a very  uncom- 
fortable night  in  great  pain.  In  the  morn- 
ing he  asked  me  whether  I was  acquainted 


1 14  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


with  the  master  of  customs,  and  when  I in- 
formed him  that  he  was  my  good  friend  he 
offered  to  bring  me  to  him,  and  setting  me 
upon  an  ass,  himself  mounting  a horse,  we  pro- 
ceeded towards  the  city,  accompanied  by  another 
soldier.  On  approaching  the  gate  he  told  me  to 
take  off  those  rags,  as  it  would  be  a disgrace  for 
me  to  ride  into  town  in  such  a condition.  ‘ No 
disgrace  to  me,’  said  I,  ‘ but  to  him  who  has 
treated  me  so  shamefully.’  'Min  Allah!  Mukad- 
dar/  was  the  answer  again.  When  we  arrived  at 
the  house  of  the  master  of  customs,  he  was 
shocked  to  see  me  in  such  a condition.  I requested 
him  to  settle  everything  for  me  with  my  pretended 
deliverer,  and  summing  up  the  fees  found  I had 
to  pay  about  twenty  pounds  ($100)  for  this 
piece  of  service;  the  whole  farce  being  intended 
to  play  a little  money  into  the  hands  of  the  Bey’s 
officer.  His  servants  then  carried  me  home  and 
put  me  to  bed.  It  was  six  weeks  before  I could 
walk  on  crutches,  and  for  full  three  years  after, 
my  ankles  and  feet,  which  had  been  much  hurt 
by  the  twisting  of  the  chains,  often  swelled.  I 
cannot  refrain  from  mentioning,  however,  the 
great  comfort  I enjoyed  from  the  texts  appointed 
for  the  day  on  which  the  foregoing  event  oc- 
curred. ‘ I am  persuaded  that  neither  death  nor 
life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers, 
nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height, 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS 


115 

nor  depth  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able 
to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.’  ” 

Of  Wieniger,  we  know  that  he  knew  how  to 
win  the  hearts  of  men,  for  whenever  he  would 
leave  Behnessa  for  Cairo,  upwards  of  two  hun- 
dred people  would  follow  him  a considerable  dis- 
tance. He  gives  the  following  interesting  account 
of  conversation  with  a secret  disciple,  a Moslem 
of  high  rank : 

“ We  were  once  walking  in  a large  garden 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  when  we  met  the  pro- 
prietor, a man  of  high  rank,  who  accosted  us  in 
a very  friendly  manner  and  asked  us  if  we  were 
all  brethren,  and  whether  we  had  the  same  re- 
ligion. On  our  replying  in  the  affirmative,  he 
turned  to  me  and  said : ' Why  do  you  wear  a beard, 
whereas  your  brethren  do  not?  You  must  be  a 
priest.’  He  would  not  believe  me  when  I told 
him  it  was  merely  a matter  of  convenience,  but 
replied:  ‘You  are  a priest;  do  not  detain  my 
soul.  I have  prayed  to  Almighty  God  to  make 
me  acquainted  with  a man  who  could  tell  me 
what  I must  do  to  be  saved,  and  I have  received 
the  answer  from  Him  that  a man  would  come 
into  my  garden  who  would  satisfy  my  desires  on 
the  subject.  You  are  that  man,  I am  convinced; 
tell  me  frankly  whether  I am  right ! ’ I inquired : 
‘ Why  not,  as  you  are  a Mohammedan,  consult 


ii6  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


the  priests  of  your  own  religion?’  To  this  he 
rejoined:  ‘ I am  firmly  convinced  that  we  follow- 
ers of  Mohammed  are  not  in  the  right  way ; there 
must  be  another  way  leading  to  salvation,  and 
you  must  point  it  out  to  me.  I am  well  aware 
that  our  lives  are  forfeited  if  our  present  conver- 
sation were  known,  but  you  have  nothing  to  fear ; 
I am  an  honest  man;  never  a word  shall  escape 
my  lips.’  While  making  this  urgent  appeal  to 
me  he  was  so  deeply  affected  that  I was  moved 
with  the  deepest  compassion.  ‘ Well,’  said  I,  ‘ I 
will  tell  you  what  a Christian  must  do  to  be 
saved.’  He  then  walked  with  me  under  a fig 
tree  and  said : ' Come,  O man  of  God,  here  where 
I have  so  often  prayed  unto  God;  you  must  tell 
me  what  I must  do.’  With  fervent  prayer  unto 
the  Lord  for  His  blessing,  I related  to  the  be- 
nighted man  what  God  had  revealed  to  us  in 
His  Holy  Word,  dwelling  at  large  on  the  redemp- 
tion which  Christ  wrought  out  for  us  by  dying 
for  our  sins  on  the  cross.  The  agha  listened  to 
me  with  much  attention,  and  when  I told  him  that 
Jesus  had  ascended  up  into  Heaven  before  the 
eyes  of  His  disciples,  he  lifted  up  his  hands  and 
exclaimed : ' O Jesus,  who  sittest  on  the  right 
hand  of  God,  have  mercy  upon  me;  be  also  my 
Saviour.’  This  prayer  he  repeated  several  times, 
with  tears  of  deepest  emotion.  Our  Saviour 
graciously  favoured  him  with  the  assurance  of 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS 


117 


pardon,  and  gave  him  a sense  of  peace.  He  fre- 
quently exclaimed  with  much  fervour : ‘ Lord 
Jesus,  I see  Thy  wounds.  Thou  art  also  my 
Saviour.’  The  following  morning  before  day- 
break, we  were  not  a little  alarmed  on  seeing  this 
Turkish  nobleman  with  a numerous  train  before 
the  door.  I hastened  to  meet  him  and  asked  him 
why  he  had  brought  so  many  people  to  our  house. 
He  replied : ‘ They  are  my  mamelukes;  they  know 
nothing;  they  are  merely  waiting  my  orders  in  the 
street.  I could  not  resist  the  impulse  which  I had, 
to  come  and  see  you  and  your  brethren,  nor  could 
I sleep  the  whole  night  for  joy!  ’ We  then  had 
some  very  edifying  conversation  with  him,  and 
united  in  fervent  thanksgiving  to  our  Saviour  for 
this  signal  proof  of  His  mercy.  As  long  as  we 
remained  in  Egypt,  the  man  continued  to  approve 
himself  a consistent  follower  of  Jesus.” 

In  1782,  the  Synod  at  Herrnhut  decided  to 
abandon  the  work  in  Egypt.  Antes  was  present 
at  this  meeting  and  endorsed  the  action,  although 
the  reasons  for  it  are  not  altogether  clear.  Hocker 
died  just  before  this,  and  Antes  and  Wieniger 
returned  to  Europe  in  obedience  to  the  action  of 
the  Synod.  Since  the  Moravian  missionaries  un- 
dertook to  establish  no  ecclesiastical  organisation, 
the  results  of  their  devoted  labours  are  found  in 
the  individual  lives  they  touched  and  quickened. 
Of  these,  of  course,  no  permanent  record  remains. 


Ii8  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


save  with  Him  who  can  ever  say  to  His  Church, 
“ I know  thy  works,  and  thy  toil  and  patience/' 

CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

Foremost  among  missionary  societies  stands 
the  Church  Missionary  Society  of  Great  Britain, 
with  an  honourable  history  which  goes  back  to 
1799,  making  it  one  of  the  oldest  missionary  so- 
cieties in  existence ; with  a record  of  devoted  serv- 
ice, whose  concise  narrative  occupies  three  com- 
pact yet  large  volumes;  with  missions  in  West 
Africa,  Uganda,  Egypt,  India,  China,  Japan,  the 
Northwest  of  America,  and  elsewhere,  making 
it  one  of  the  most  extensive  missionary  agencies 
in  the  world;  with  an  annual  budget  of  over  two 
millions  of  dollars,  making  it  one  of  the  most 
responsible  organisations  of  Christendom.  We 
go  back  to  the  year  1815,  to  the  headquarters  of 
this  Society  in  London,  and  we  find  the  Com- 
mittee of  this  Society  holding  a farewell  meet- 
ing. Lord  Gambier  is  in  the  chair.  A Cam- 
bridge Wrangler  is  receiving  his  official  commis- 
sion from  the  lips  of  Josiah  Pratt,  the  Society’s 
Secretary,  for  William  Jowett  is  going  forth  as 
a missionary.  His,  however,  is  a peculiar  mis- 
sion. He  is  being  assigned  to  service  in  what 
might  be  called  the  “ Intelligence  Department  of 
the  Army,”  for  interest  has  been  awakened  in  the 
degraded  Oriental  churches,  and  the  Society 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS  119 

wishes  to  know  about  these  that  it  may  cooperate 
with  them  for  their  spiritual  quickening.  “ The 
Classic,  the  Painter,  the  Statuary,  the  Anti- 
quarian, the  Naturalist,  the  Merchant,  the  Patriot, 
the  Soldier,  all,”  declares  the  Secretary  in  ad- 
dressing Jowett,  “ have  their  reports;  but  no  one 
details  to  us  the  number  and  character  of  the 
Christians  . . . who  are  there,  perhaps,  in  retire- 
ment, sighing  over  the  moral  condition  of  their 
country.”  Taking  his  stand  at  Malta,  Jowett  is 
to  survey  the  religious  horizon.  He  is  to  look 
at  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  study  the 
Greek,  Syrian,  Coptic,  Abyssinian,  Armenian, 
and  Nestorian  Churches. 

Among  other  places  visited  by  Mr.  Jowett  was 
Egypt.  , He  was  there  for  some  months  in  1819, 
and  in  1820,  and  again  in  1823,  and  had  much 
intercourse  with  the  priests  and  monks  of  the 
Coptic  Church,  the  Patriarch  giving  him  letters 
of  introduction  to  several  of  the  convents,  and  he 
distributed  many  copies  of  the  Arabic  Scriptures. 
One  of  the  most  striking  results  of  his  visits  was 
the  purchase  of  a remarkable  manuscript  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible  in  Amharic,  the  vernacular 
language  of  Abyssinia.  This  translation  had  been 
made  a few  years  before  by  the  French  consul  at 
Cairo,  M.  Asselin  de  Cherville,  assisted  by  an 
aged  Abyssinian  monk,  named  Abu  Rumi.  The 
manuscript  consisted  of  no  less  than  9,539  pages. 


120  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


the  whole  written  out  by  Abu  Rumi  in  the  Am- 
haric  character.  It  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Jowett 
for  the  Bible  Society;  and  portions  of  it  were 
printed,  many  thousands  of  copies  of  which  were 
afterwards  circulated  by  Gobat,  Krapf,  and  other 
Church  Missionary  Society  missionaries  in  Abys- 
sinia. The  revision  of  this  version  for  the  Bible 
Society  was  one  of  the  tasks  of  Krapf’s  old  age, 
and  it  was  finished  in  1879  and  printed  at  St. 
Chrischona  Mission  Press,  near  Basle. 

Mr.  Jowett’s  labours  at  Malta  consisted  chiefly 
in  the  preparation  of  that  Arabic  literature  which 
future  missionaries  might  make  use  of  as  weapons 
of  missionary  warfare.  Among  other  works 
which  came  from  his  hand,  we  find  the  following 
in  Arabic:  Reading  Lessons,  the  Ten  Command- 
ments and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  Extracts  of 
Scripture  relative  to  Youth,  Proverbs,  Lokmann’s 
Fables,  the  Three  Epistles  of  John,  the  two  Epis- 
tles of  Peter,  and  the  Second  Chapter  of  Acts. 
Thus  in  the  history  of  missions  in  Egypt  is  illus- 
trated the  almost  invariable  law  that  the  first 
work  of  missions  is  literary. 

At  the  close  of  1825,  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  sent  out  to  Egypt  five  missionaries.  These 
were  Samuel  Gobat  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Jeru- 
salem), J.  R.  T.  Lieder  and  his  wife,  Theodore 
Mueller  and  his  wife,  William  Kruse  and  his 
wife,  and  Christian  Kugler.  All  five  men  were 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS 


I2I 


Germans  from  Basle  Seminary.  Gobat  and 
Kugler  afterwards  went  to  Abyssinia.  This 
missionary  party  arrived  in  Alexandria  and  hired 
an  Arab  house  some  two  miles  from  Alexandria 
where  they  began  the  study  of  the  language.  By 
the  death  of  Mrs.  Mueller,  the  first  break  in  that 
little  missionary  circle  was  made.  Within  a few 
months  of  their  landing,  they  pushed  on  to  Cairo, 
the  natural  centre  for  their  missionary  work. 
They  took  a house  in  the  Coptic  quarter  at  a 
hundred  dollars  a year.  To  hasten  their  mastery 
of  the  language,  they  made  it  a rule  to  speak 
Arabic  with  each  other. 

The  outlook  for  successful  missionary  work  is 
recorded  in  their  first  reports  to  the  Society. 
There  seemed  to  be  an  open  door  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  books.  The  Copts  were  found  to  be  re- 
served in  their  attitude  toward  them,  but  they 
were  well  received  by  the  Coptic  Patriarch.  Work 
among  Moslems  was  practically  forbidden  and  an 
instance  is  recorded  where  a Moslem  woman,  hav- 
ing married  a Greek  and  having  had  the  mark  of 
the  Cross  made  on  her  arm,  was  arrested  and,  on 
confessing  herself  a Christian,  was  drowned  in 
the  Nile;  while  the  man  only  escaped  being  burned 
alive  by  declaring  himself  a Moslem. 

The  chief  efforts  of  the  Mission  were,  there- 
fore, of  necessity,  directed  towards  the  Copts.  To 
reach  the  Coptic  communities  in  Upper  Egypt, 


122  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Lieder  made  frequent  trips  away  from  Cairo. 
“ I have  visited,”  he  says  in  1828-9,  “ and  sup- 
plied with  the  Word  of  Life  nearly  all  the  cities 
and  villages  where  Christians  (Copts)  are  found. 
Of  the  Scriptures  and  Tracts,  I have  given  a large 
portion,  gratis,  to  poor  Christians;  for  misery  is 
unspeakable  in  these  regions : nevertheless  I sold 
Scriptures  for  one  hundred  and  twelve  dollars, 
eleven  piasters,  thirty  paras.  The  sum,  in  fact, 
exceeded  my  most  sanguine  expectations.” 

In  Cairo,  missionary  work  followed  educational 
lines,  and  schools  were  opened.  At  first  it  was 
difficult  to  gain  the  confidence  of  the  Copts  and, 
in  1828-9,  only  five  Coptic  children  and  four 
Greeks  are  reported  as  attending  the  schools,  the 
rest  being  Catholics  and  Maronites.  Four  years 
later,  however,  we  find  not  only  Copts  in  greater 
numbers,  but  even  three  Moslem  boys  in  attend- 
ance. A girls’  school  is  then  opened  and  also  a 
boys’  boarding  school.  So  the  work  advanced. 
In  1838-9,  we  find  fifteen  Moslems  in  the  Mission 
School  and  they  do  not  even  object  to  religious 
instruction.  Mrs.  Lieder  also  had  access  to  the 
Pasha’s  harem  and  taught  the  wife  and  two 
daughters  of  Ibrahim  Pasha.  The  next  year,  the 
mission  school  was  visited  by  Adham  Bey,  the 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  and  others,  who 
expressed  themselves  greatly  pleased  with  the 
methods  of  instruction. 


THE  IBIS,  THE  MISSIONARY  NILE-BOAT 


EGYPTIAN  VILLAGE 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS 


123 


It  is  interesting  to  note  the  statement  of  the 
missionaries  that  the  regular  church  service  did 
not  prove  an  effective  way  of  reaching  the  people. 
Such  meetings  as  were  held  were  conducted, 
therefore,  along  more  informal  lines  of  reading 
the  Scriptures,  commenting  upon  them  and  per- 
mitting discussion.  In  1839-40,  there  were  indi- 
cations of  special  interest  among  the  Copts.  Six 
meetings  a week  were  held  among  them  for  the 
reading  of  the  Scriptures.  The  Patriarch  him- 
self sanctioned  such  meetings  “ with  the  observa- 
tion that  it  was  better  to  meet  to  read  the  Word 
of  God  than  to  drink  brandy  and  commit  sin.” 
The  year  1840-41  proved  one  of  trial,  owing 
to  unsettled  political  conditions.  Moslem  fanat- 
icism displayed  itself  in  the  streets.  Europeans 
generally  were  insulted  by  having  such  epithets 
cast  at  them,  as  “ Dog,”  “ Infidel,”  “ Pig,”  while 
on  one  occasion  Mrs.  Lieder  had  a stone  thrown 
at  her  which  caused  her  some  injury,  and  Mr. 
Lieder  was  several  times  spit  upon  by  the  chil- 
dren. The  schools  lost  favour  and  were  only 
prevented  from  being  closed  by  being  put  under 
the  protection  of  the  United  States  Consul.  This 
is  interesting,  for,  a quarter  of  a century  later,  it 
was  the  British  Consul  who  repeatedly  defended 
the  interests  of  American  missionaries.  Moslem 
boys,  however,  had  to  be  barred  from  the  mission 
schools  to  avoid  trouble. 


124  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


In  spite  of  these  hindrances,  the  work  among 
the  Copts  went  on  unhindered.  The  Coptic  Pa- 
triarch even  expressed  the  hope  that  the  Society 
would  open  a Seminary  for  Copts  seeking  clerical 
orders.  The  meetings  among  Copts  continued. 
To  be  sure,  they  were  often  disappointing  in  their 
character,  as  when  they  disputed  for  seven  days 
at  one  of  the  chief  meetings  about  the  proposition, 
“ Whether  angels  have  wings  in  reality  or  not.’' 
The  distribution  or  sale  of  books  also  went  on: 
865  copies  of  Scriptures  and  3,877  Tracts,  sold  or 
distributed,  is  the  creditable  record  of  the  year. 
There  were  twenty-five  pupils  in  the  Seminary,  as 
the  Boarding  School  was  called.  Eighty-four  were 
enrolled  in  the  Boys’  Day  School;  and  a hundred 
and  thirty-seven  in  the  Girls’  Day  School.  Some 
thirty-five  of  the  poorest  boys  and  twenty  of  the 
poorest  girls  were  given  free  meat  at  the  noonday 
meal.  A teacher  by  the  name  of  Ayub  gave  in- 
struction to  the  girls  and  this  sign  of  progress  is 
recorded,  that  they  received  instruction  with  their 
faces  unveiled.  The  far-reaching  possibilities  of 
some  of  this  missionary  work  appeared  the  fol- 
lowing year  when  a young  man,  Andraus,  who 
was  for  some  time  a student  and  then  a teacher 
in  the  Church  Missionary  Society  School,  was 
appointed  Abuna  (Archbishop)  of  the  Abyssinian 
Church. 

In  1842-3,  it  was  decided  to  turn  the  boarding 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS 


125 


school,  or  Seminary,  into  a Coptic  Institution  for 
training  those  seeking  clerical  orders  in  the  Cop- 
tic Church.  The  policy  lying  back  of  this  move  is 
worth  considering,  for  it  was,  and  is  sometimes 
even  to-day,  a subject  of  considerable  discussion. 
The  hopeful  views  entertained  in  those  days  for 
the  quickening  of  these  Oriental  Churches  were 
reflected  in  the  address  of  Secretary  Pratt  to 
Jowett.  The  latter  was  commissioned  to  notice 
the  Roman  Church,  “ her  condition,  any  favour- 
able indications  ...  to  ascertain  the  best  means 
of  restoring  her  to  primitive  health  and  vigour.” 
Greater  hope  still  was  expressed  for  the  other 
Churches.  ‘‘  The  Greek,  Armenian,  Syrian,  Cop- 
tic, and  Abyssinian  Churches,  though  in  many 
points  far  gone  from  the  simplicity  and  purity  of 
the  truth,  are  not  so  entangled;  and  also  possess 
within  themselves  the  principle  and  the  means  of 
reformation.” 

The  hope  was  therefore  entertained  that  the 
missionaries  might  reform  the  Coptic  clergy 
and  the  clergy  would  then  reform  the  Coptic 
Church. 

The  experiment  seemed  for  a while  successful. 
Within  two  years  there  were  fifteen  pupils  in  the 
Institution.  Some  trouble  was  experienced  owing 
to  the  ignorant  and  unpromising  character  of  the 
pupils  recommended  by  the  Patriarch.  Never- 
theless, the  work  was  carried  forward,  the  three 


126  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


eldest  pupils  were  ordained  as  deacons  by  the  Pa- 
triarch and  the  latter  also  attended  the  public  ex- 
amination of  the  mission  schools  in  1843;  so  did 
the  Bishop  of  Senaar  and  a number  of  priests. 
The  Patriarch  even  dined  at  the  Mission  house 
and  offered  a short  prayer  in  behalf  of  the  Mis- 
sion. The  fullest  success  seemed  to  attend  the 
policy  of  the  Society,  and  it  looked  as  if  the  Cop- 
tic Church  was  ready  to  welcome  education  and 
enlightenment. 

“ It  appears,  therefore,”  says  a Report  of 
1846-7,  “ that,  so  far  as  the  number  of  pupils  is 
concerned,  their  progress  in  general  knowledge, 
and  the  countenance  afforded  by  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities  of  the  Coptic  Church,  the  Institution 
has  realised  the  most  sanguine  expectations 
formed  concerning  it.”  Then  there  is  added  the 
following  observation,  “ But,  in  the  most  impor- 
tant points,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  it  has  hitherto 
failed  of  its  object.”  ‘‘  It  is  painful  to  think,” 
says  Mr.  Lieder,  “ that  we  can  see  none  of  those 
spiritual  fruits  which  our  eyes  desire  to  behold.” 
In  the  Report  of  the  following  year,  Mr.  Lieder  is 
even  more  outspoken.  “ The  Institution  does  not 
answer,”  he  says,  ‘‘  the  important  object  for 
which  it  was  opened — to  educate  young  men  for 
the  amelioration  of  the  Coptic  priesthood.  This 
is  occasioned  in  a great  measure  by  the  peculiar 
laws  of  the  Coptic  Church;  but,  also,  by  the  kind 


.EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS 


127 


of  youths  which  that  Church  has  sent  to  the  In- 
stitution, who,  with  few  exceptions,  have  proved 
to  be  only  the  scum  of  the  Church.  It  is  my 
opinion,  on  account  of  these  causes,  that  this  In- 
stitution, as  it  is,  is  not  worth  the  great  ex- 
penses to  which  the  Society  is  subject.” 

The  next  year,  the  Institution  was  closed  and 
Mr.  Lieder  writes,  “ I now  see  clearly  that  it 
could  not  be  otherwise;  for  how  was  it  possible 
that  a youth  whose  mind  has  become  enlightened 
by  an  education  founded  on  the  Word  of  God, 
should  or  could  even  enter  into  the  service  of  such 
a deeply-fallen  Church  ? ” 

This  failure  to  effect  the  purifying  of  the  or- 
ganic life  of  this  ancient  Oriental  Church,  raised 
a further  question,  “ Should  the  members  of  this 
Church,  who  accept  evangelical  views,  be  organ- 
ised into  an  independent  Church,  or  be  compelled 
to  remain  in  ecclesiastical  fellowship  in  the 
Church  in  which  they  were  born  ? ” The  ques- 
tion really  dates  back  to  the  days  of  Luther.  The 
ecclesiastical  affiliations  of  the  Church  Mission- 
ary Society,  which  included  many  who  were  in- 
clined to  give  considerable  weight  to  the  impor- 
tance of  a historical  Church,  such  as  the  Cop- 
tic, made  the  question  a doubly  difficult  one  for 
the  missionaries  of  this  Society.  That  the  ques- 
tion was  a real  issue  may  be  seen  from  a letter 
written  by  Henry  Venn,  the  Society’s  Secretary, 


128  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


to  the  Lord  Bishop  of  London.  It  is  embodied 
in  the  Society’s  Report  for  1851-2.  It  repudiates 
the  charges  of  deliberate  proselytism,  but  shows 
how  impossible  it  is  not  to  receive  into  fellowship 
those  who  of  their  own  accord  renounce  their 
allegiance  to  their  mother  Church  because  of 
ecclesiastical  abuses. 

In  the  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  the  So- 
ciety’s recognised  periodical,  more  than  one  arti- 
cle appeared  setting  forth  the  impossibility  of  con- 
ceding to  the  degraded  Oriental  Churches  the 
standing  of  a true  Church.  The  following,  for 
example,  is  well  worth  quoting  for  its  clear  and 
comprehensive  statement  of  the  situation  from 
the  Episcopal  point  of  view  and  yet  also  from 
the  point  of  view  of  practical  missions.  After 
describing  the  Oriental  Churches  the  writer  says, 
“ While  so  vast  a dissimilarity  exists,  so  vital,  in- 
clusive both  of  principles  and  results,  to  make  our 
agreement  in  Episcopacy  a ground  for  our  recog- 
nition of  them  as  sister  Churches  is  an  avowal 
that  this  point  is  so  important  as  to  outweigh  all 
doctrinal  discrepancies,  and  establish  union  be- 
tween those  who  have  the  truth  of  the  Gospel 
and  those  who,  in  their  teaching  and  practice, 
ignore  its  most  important  principles.  Of  course, 
such  a concession  leads  a step  further  in  another 
direction,  and  conduces  to  the  unavoidable  conse- 
quence— that,  where  a Church  is  not  an  Episcopal 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS 


129 


Church,  no  purity  of  doctrine  or  soundness  of 
evangelical  principle  and  practice  can  justify  our 
recognition  of  it  as  a sister  Church.  Missionary 
operations  in  connection  with  the  Oriental 
Church,  attempted  on  a foundation  such  as  this, 
must  be  inconclusive  and  unavailing.  In  the 
adoption  of  such  a principle,  we  resign  at  the  very 
outset,  the  capacity  of  usefulness.  In  acknowl- 
edging them  as  sister  Churches,  we  admit  that, 
whatever  differences  may  exist,  they  are  not  of 
an  essential  character,  and  do  not  interfere  with 
the  vitality  of  truth.  Of  course  our  admission 
is  with  the  utmost  facility  urged  against  our- 
selves; and  when  we  would  refer  to  one  point  or 
another  which  it  would  be  desirable  to  have  recti- 
fied, we  are  reminded  that  as,  by  our  own  ac- 
knowledgment, they  are  not  vital  points,  their  re- 
moval is  not  necessary  and  that  they  may  as  well 
be  permitted  to  remain.  Such  a course  is  not 
honest:  it  is  not  truthful.  It  is  a false  position, 
a position  of  unfaithfulness.’^ 

Whatever  were  the  feelings  of  the  missionaries 
on  this  point,  the  fact  was  that  they  sought  no 
independent  Church  organisation  for  those  whom 
they  so  helpfully  influenced  as  individuals.  The 
refusal  of  the  Coptic  Church  to  permit  any  real 
reform  within  itself  was  further  shown  by  the 
banishment,  the  next  year  after  the  closing  of 
the  Institution,  of  a Coptic  priest  to  a convent  be- 


130  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


cause  he  displayed  too  great  an  interest  in  evan- 
gelical teachings. 

For  some  time  the  missionary  force  had  been 
reduced  by  removal  or  death.  Since  1837  ^^e 
Mission  had  had  only  two  regular  missionaries 
in  Egypt.  In  1850,  Gobat,  now  Bishop  of  Jeru- 
salem, visited  Egypt  and  urged  an  abandonment 
of  the  policy  of  affiliation  with  the  Coptic  Church, 
the  prosecution  of  the  work  along  more  independ- 
ent lines,  and  the  reenforcement  of  the  Mission  by 
additional  workers.  Burdened,  however,  with 
other  work,  the  Society  was  unable  to  do  more 
for  Egypt,  and,  in  1852,  even  Kruse  was  trans- 
ferred to  Palestine.  Although  Lieder  remained 
at  his  post  for  many  years,  universally  respected, 
and  exercising  a wholesome  influence  over  the 
Coptic  Patriarch  and  bishops  until  his  death  from 
cholera  in  1865,  the  Mission  had,  as  the  Gleaner 
put  it,  “ only  a lingering  existence.’'  In  1862, 
the  Society  took  official  action,  discontinuing  the 
Mission. 

In  1850,  Bishop  Gobat  gave  the  following  es- 
timate of  the  work  of  his  Society  in  Egypt : “ Be- 
sides the  dissemination  of  the  Word  of  God  and 
other  good  books  in  all  parts  of  Egypt,  and  the 
Scriptural  though  imperfect  education  of  youth, 
the  results  of  the  Mission  are  the  conversion  of  a 
few  individuals,  some  of  whom  have  died  in  the 
faith,  a few  enlightened  young  men  dispersed 


EARLY  MODERN  MISSIONS 


131 

through  Egypt — while  many  members  of  the  dif- 
ferent communities  have  been  led  to  doubt  the 
truth  of  their  superstitions  and  traditions.  Yet 
upon  the  whole  it  must  be  confessed,  that  the 
Egyptian  Mission  has  not  had  the  success  which 
might  have  been  expected.” 

A more  encouraging  estimate  is  expressed  by 
the  Rev.  Andrew  Watson,  D.D.,  who  arrived  in 
Egypt  in  1861 : “I  believe  that  through  the 

circulation  of  copies  of  the  Word  of  God  by 
the  Church  Missionary  Society’s  missionaries 
throughout  the  Nile  Valley,  hundreds  of  persons 
had  their  knowledge  of  the  way  of  salvation  cor- 
rected, their  faith  directed  away  from  their  own 
works,  to  the  death  and  suffering  and  obedience 
of  the  Son  of  God  as  the  reason  and  ground  of 
salvation  from  sin  and  its  consequences ; and 
much  good  seed  was  sown,  which  afterwards 
brought  fruit  unto  eternal  life.  In  the  great  day 
when  all  secrets  shall  be  revealed,  it  will,  I have 
no  doubt,  be  found  that  our  Mission  has  in  not  a 
few  places  reaped  where  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  formerly  sowed.” 


IV 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 
HROUGHOUT  the  Nile  Valley,  to-day, 


from  the  seaboard  to  the  First  Cataract, 


and  from  the  First  Cataract  to  the  Sobat 
River,  are  to  be  found  the  stations  of  “ The 
American  Mission.”  The  name  is  happily  chosen, 
for  this  Mission  is  the  representative  in  Egypt  not 
merely  of  a denomination,  but  of  American 
Christendom.  So,  too,  the  Church  which  this 
Mission  has  built  up  is  known  throughout  the 
Nile  Valley  as  “ The  Protestant  Church  ” or 
“ The  Evangelical  Church.”  Thus  does  the  sol- 
idarity of  evangelical  Christianity  receive  its 
proper  emphasis  in  the  face  of  a corrupt  Chris- 
tianity and  a united  Moslem  world. 

The  so-called  “American  Mission  ” in  Egypt 
is  the  Mission  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
of  North  America.  It  was  founded  in  1854,  by 
the  Associate  Reformed  Church  of  the  West, 
which,  in  1858,  formed,  by  its  union  with  the 
Associate  Church,  the  present-day  United  Pres- 
byterian Church. 


13a 


MOSQUE  OF  MOHAMMED  ALT,  CAIRO  AMERICAN  MISSION  I5U I LI)  I NO,  CAIRO 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 


133 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  MISSION 

The  founding  of  this  Mission  was  the  result  of 
a number  of  conditions,  most  of  them  seemingly 
trifling.  But  often  does  it  happen  thus  in  his- 
tory, that  God  brings  about  movements  of  far- 
reaching  importance  by  causes  which  seem  in 
themselves  insignificant.  The  ill-health  of  some 
workers  of  a Mission  in  Syria  connected  with 
this  same  Church,  led  to  a visit  to  Egypt  and  a 
discovery  of  the  unmet  needs  of  this  land.  Po- 
litical disturbances,  and  other  conditions  which 
were  experienced  in  Syria,  also  led  these  mission- 
aries to  feel  a lack  of  freedom  in  their  work  in 
that  country,  suggesting  the  propriety,  possibly 
even  the  necessity,  for  removal. 

The  establishment  of  the  Mission  was  finally 
resolved  upon  and  was  then  accomplished  by  the 
Rev.  Thomas  McCague  and  Mrs.  McCague,  sent 
out  from  America,  and  the  Rev.  James  Barnett, 
detached  from  the  Mission  in  Syria.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  McCague  reached  Cairo,  November  15, 
1854,  twenty  days  before  the  arrival  of  Mr. 
Barnett.  The  latter,  however,  coming  from 
Syria,  enjoyed  the  double  advantage  of  a knowl- 
edge of  the  Arabic  and  the  experience  of  ten 
years  of  missionary  service.  He  was  able,  there- 
fore, to  take  up  the  work  at  once. 


134  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


THE  FIRST  DECADE 

The  first  methods  of  doing  missionary  work 
seem  to  have  been  preaching,  personal  work,  and 
the  distribution  of  religious  literature.  An 
Arabic  service  was  held  every  Lord’s  Day.  The 
attendance  ranged  during  the  first  year  from  three 
to  eight,  and  the  majority  of  those  in  attendance 
were  in  some  connection  with  the  missionaries. 
The  only  boast  that  could  be  made  at  the  end  of 
nine  months  was  that  as  many  as  twenty  different 
persons  had  attended  the  service  at  least  once. 
Surely,  this  was  “ the  day  of  small  things.” 

Within  a few  months,  cholera  broke  out  in 
Cairo,  and,  during  one  month,  ten  thousand  per- 
sons died  from  it  in  the  city.  The  missionaries 
continued  at  their  posts,  visiting  the  sick  and  com- 
forting the  bereaved.  This  calamity  was  fol- 
lowed by  rebellion  in  Upper  Egypt,  which, 
through  exaggerated  rumours,  created  much  un- 
rest in  the  capital.  Further  difficulties  arose 
through  the  feeling  generated  between  Moslems 
and  Copts  by  the  Crimean  War.  The  mission- 
aries, however,  acting  and  speaking  with  impar- 
tiality, avoided  enmity  to  a great  degree  and  car- 
ried forward  their  work.  In  the  fall  of  1855, 
about  a year  after  their  arrival  in  the  country, 
they  opened  a boys’  school.  The  latter  was  found 
presently  to  react  favourably  upon  the  Sabbath 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION  135 

service,  for  it  enlisted  the  interest  of  the  parents 
of  the  scholars. 

In  1857,  the  Mission  was  reenforced  by  the  ar- 
rival of  Rev.  Gulian  Lansing,  in  whom  were  dis- 
covered qualities  of  leadership  that  rendered  sig- 
nal service  to  the  Mission  for  many  years.  His 
six  years  of  previous  service  in  Syria  furnished 
him  with  a knowledge  of  the  Arabic,  so  that  he 
was  able  to  take  up  the  work  at  once. 

Not  waiting,  in  the  least,  until  the  agencies  al- 
ready established  should  attract  greater  numbers, 
the  missionaries  pressed  forward  to  the  multiply- 
ing of  these  missionary  agencies.  So  we  hear  of 
a new  centre  of  work  opened  up  in  Cairo  in  1857, 
a trip  up  the  Nile  by  boat  for  purposes  of  ex- 
ploration and  for  the  distribution  of  Scriptures, 
and  a new  station  opened  at  Alexandria. 

This  last  extension  had  very  important  results 
to  the  Mission.  It  ultimately  brought  to  the  Mis- 
sion one  whose  services  contributed,  perhaps  more 
than  did  those  of  any  other  single  worker,  to  ex- 
tend and  establish  the  work  in  the  Nile  Valley. 
We  refer  to  Mr.  John  Hogg,  a Scotchman,  who 
was  at  this  time  conducting  a school  recently  es- 
tablished at  Alexandria,  by  a Scotch  Society  for 
the  conversion  of  the  Jews. 

In  September,  1859,  an  event  occurred  in  Cairo 
which  possessed  untold  significance  for  the  future 
of  evangelical  Christianity  in  the  Nile  Valley. 


136  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Four  persons  were  received  into  fellowship  with 
the  Church  and  their  names  enrolled  as  members. 
The  first  fruits  of  the  Mission’s  labours — four, 
after  five  years  of  devoted  and  discouraging  ser- 
vice! The  pledge  and  promise  of  the  great  host 
that  were  yet  to  be  gathered  into  the  kingdom  of 
our  Lord  I Two  of  the  four  were  Egyptians,  the 
third  was  an  Armenian,  and  the  fourth  a Syrian. 
The  winning  of  these  two  first  Egyptian  con- 
verts, both  of  whom  were  Copts,  is  illustrative 
of  the  spiritual  and  intellectual  experiences 
which  usually  accompany  the  conversion  of  a 
Copt. 

One  was  a grain  merchant,  a man  of  good  char- 
acter, but  very  zealous  in  defending  the  doctrines 
and  practices  of  the  Coptic  Church.  He  was 
ever  demanding  of  the  missionary  the  proof  for 
any  teaching  that  seemed  to  clash  with  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Coptic  Church.  As  proofs  were  given 
from  the  Word  of  God,  he  became  silent.  But 
the  next  day  he  would  go  to  his  priest  and  de- 
mand of  him  proofs  from  the  Word  of  God  for 
the  Coptic  position.  As  the  latter  was  unable  to 
furnish  such  proofs,  the  grain  merchant  was  first 
sullen  in  his  admission  of  the  truth,  but  later  came 
to  accept  it  and  defend  it  against  others.  Some- 
times the  priest  would  quote  to  him  the  sayings 
of  the  fathers  and  councils.  “ No,”  would  be  his 
reply,  ‘‘  I do  not  want  these;  I want  the  chapter 


- THE  AMERICAN  MISSION  137 

and  verse  in  some  book  of  the  Old  Testament  or 
the  New.” 

The  other  convert,  Mikhail,  had  been  a Coptic 
monk  in  a small  town  of  Upper  Egypt.  He  had 
a fair  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  quite  an  un- 
usual thing  among  Coptic  monks  at  that  time. 
When  he  first  went  to  the  convent,  he  had  never 
seen  a complete  copy  of  the  Bible,  yet  he  was  very 
anxious  to  possess  one.  One  day  a fellow 
monk  came  in  with  a copy  of  the  Bible  which  he 
had  secured  from  an  agent  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society.  As  he  was  not  fond  of  reading, 
he  was  readily  persuaded  to  trade  the  book  he 
had  secured  for  a pair  of  shoes  which  he  needed. 
Thus  Mikhail  got  possession  of  a complete  copy 
of  the  Word  of  God.  He  gained  a wonderful 
acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures  and  could  both 
quote  and  locate  passages  readily.  As  he  studied 
the  Book,  he  became  more  and  more  dissatisfied 
with  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  Coptic 
Church.  His  further  studies  and  conference 
with  the  missionaries  brought  him  fuller  light, 
and  he  became  one  of  the  first  converts  and  mem- 
bers of  the  native  Protestant  Church,  and,  later 
still,  became  the  first  native  ordained  to  the  Gos- 
pel ministry  in  the  Protestant  Church  of  Egypt. 

The  year  after  this  first  reception  of  members, 
four  more  were  added  to  the  roll,  one  of  whom 
became  later  the  pastor  of  the  largest  Protestant 


138  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


congregation  in  Egypt,  the  Assiut  congregation. 
Thus  was  God  gathering  into  the  kingdom  those 
who  should  not  only  help  to  constitute,  but  also 
to  lead,  and  to  minister  to,  the  infant  Evangelical 
Church. 

The  organisation  of  the  first  Presbytery,  in 
i860,  is  also  an  event  of  importance,  marking  the 
beginning  of  a new  ecclesiastical  organism, 
moulded,  for  the  time  being,  out  of  foreign  ma- 
terial, but  destined  to  become  ere  long  predomi- 
nantly Egyptian  in  its  membership.  Three  years 
later,  the  first  congregational  organisation  was 
effected  at  Cairo.  The  rapidity  of  this  growth 
and  development  is  really  marvellous.  Here  in 
close  conjunction  stand  the  winning  of  the  first 
converts,  presbyterial  organisation,  and  congre- 
gational organisation. 

It  is  impossible  to  follow  in  detail  the  move- 
ments of  this  missionary  enterprise,  but,  standing 
at  the  close  of  the  first  decade,  we  may  survey 
the  extent  of  the  Mission’s  development.  The 
foreign  force  now  numbers  fourteen:  six  or- 
dained men;  three  unmarried  women  mission- 
aries; five  wives  of  missionaries.  Among  these 
are  men  of  rare  gifts;  preachers,  educationists, 
organisers,  bold  yet  prudent  leaders.  The  native 
converts  number  sixty-nine.  Of  these  also,  many 
are  men  of  influence  and  natural  power.  The 
decade  has  been  a significant  one  for  the  terri- 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 


139 


torial  extension  of  the  work.  Cairo  and  Alex- 
andria have  been  definitely  occupied,  while  mis- 
sionary itineration  has  already  pushed  its  way  up 
the  river  to  the  First  Cataract,  westward  to  the 
Faiyum,  and  has  extended  more  or  less  to  the 
Delta.  We  also  find,  in  this  first  decade,  the 
germ  of  every  form  of  missionary  activity,  medi- 
cal work  excepted,  that  the  conditions  in  Egypt 
have  called  for:  the  Evangelistic,  the  Educa- 
tional, the  Colporteur,  the  Native  Church, 
Women’s  Work,  Nile  Boat  Work,  and  a Theo- 
logical Seminary. 

Two  events  of  this  first  decade  deserve  special 
mention ; one,  the  first  serious  outbreak  of  perse- 
cution; and  the  other,  a strange  romance  involv- 
ing an  Indian  Prince. 

A woman  of  Assiut,  wife  of  a Moslem,  who 
had  formerly  been  a Coptic  Christian  and  had 
embraced  Islam,  wished  to  return  to  her  former 
faith.  A recent  proclamation  of  the  Sultan,  Abd- 
el-Majid,  granting  religious  liberty,  seemed  to 
safeguard  her  life  in  this  bold  purpose.  She  went 
to  the  Coptic  bishop  for  protection,  and  formally 
requested  Faris,  a Syrian,  who  was  in  charge  of 
the  American  Mission  School  at  Assiut,  to  defend 
her  in  any  legal  suit  that  might  be  brought.  As 
Faris  had  special  linguistic  and  debating  gifts, 
and  the  Sultan’s  proclamation  was  known,  noth- 
ing was  done  until  the  Sultan’s  death.  Then  the 


140  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


impression  arose  that  the  new  Sultan  would  not 
be  bound  by  his  predecessor’s  decree,  and  the 
woman’s  husband  brought  charge  against  Paris 
for  the  unlawful  detention  of  his  wife  at  the 
bishop’s  house.  The  governor  wrote  to  the  chief 
of  police  to  summon  Paris,  and  to  demand  that 
he  deliver  up  the  woman  to  the  government  for 
the  purpose  of  adjudging  the  case.  Paris  obeyed 
the  summons  and  appeared  with  the  woman.  He 
was  sent  to  the  police  court.  A resume  of  his 
own  record  tells  what  happened. 

“ On  entering,  I found  about  sixty  men  pres- 
ent. I seated  myself  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
divan,  upon  which  the  kadi's,  scribe  approached 
me  and  said,  ‘ Sit  on  the  ground.’  Prom  this  re- 
mark I suspected  their  evil  purpose.  Pinding 
they  had  not  accomplished  their  object  of  exciting 
me  to  say  something  rash  or  improper,  they 
stirred  up  the  ignorant  crowd  to  revile  me  and 
curse  my  religion.  On  this  I attempted  to  leave 
the  court,  which,  when  they  perceived,  they  pre- 
vented me  from  doing,  and  the  kadi  said,  ‘ Why 
have  you  come  here?  ’ I replied,  ‘ If  your  hon- 
our will  have  the  goodness  to  read  the  petition 
and  the  order  of  his  excellency,  the  governor, 
thereto  annexed,  you  will  understand  the  reason 
for  my  appearing  before  you.’  The  scribe  then 
read  the  petition  and  the  order,  and  said,  ‘ Why 
do  you  detain  the  woman  with  you  ? ’ I remained 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION  141 

silent,  whereupon  the  kadi  said,  ‘ Why  do  you 
not  answer  the  scribe  ? ’ I replied,  ‘ May  it  please 
your  honour,  I am  the  attorney  of  the  woman,  not 
her  detainer,  and  therefore  I abstained  from  an- 
swering, since  the  petition  which  is  in  the  hands 
of  your  honour  orders  the  appearance  of  her  at- 
torney, not  her  keeper.’  The  kadi  then  replied, 
‘ We  do  not  acknowledge  your  right  of  attorney.’ 
On  this  I thanked  him  for  relieving  me  of  my 
obligation.  He  then  said,  ‘ It  is  not  for  this  that 
we  reject  your  right  of  attorney,  but  because  you 
are  an  infidel,  and  have  occasioned  infidelity  in 
our  town.’  I then  said  to  him  with  all  respect,  ‘ I 
should  think  that  your  honour  could  not  believe 
that  a person  like  me  is  able  to  originate  either 
infidelity  or  faith,  seeing  this  prerogative  belongs 
to  God  alone.’  Thereupon  the  tnufti  said,  ‘ O 
thou  accursed  one,  thou  infidel,  thou  son  of  a 
pig,  thou  polluted  one!  dost  thou  revile  the  re- 
ligion of  the  kadi}'  He  then  stirred  up  some 
of  the  ignorant  crowd,  which  had  increased  to 
about  two  hundred,  to  beat  me;  whereupon  the 
brother-in-law  of  the  kadi  came  forward,  spat  in 
my  face,  and  struck  me  on  the  head.  The  kadi 
then  called  out,  ‘ Beat  him  ’ ; and  upon  that  a man, 
called  Ayub  Kashi  f,  came  forward  and  said,  ‘ O 
thou  accursed  infidel;  dost  thou  think  that  Abd- 
el-Majid  still  lives?  He  is  dead  and  with  him 
has  died  the  Christian  religion,  and  also  the  re- 


142  ■ IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 

proach  of  Islam,  and  in  his  place  has  arisen 
Abd-el-Aziz,  who  has  brought  back  to  the  re- 
ligion of  Islam  its  ancient  glory.’  So  saying  he 
struck  me,  with  his  cane,  on  my  head,  and  spat  in 
my  face,  and  knocked  me  in  the  stomach.  At 
this  the  crowd  rushed  upon  me,  and  commenced 
beating  me  one  after  the  other,  with  sticks,  spit- 
ting upon  me,  and  throwing  earth  upon  my  head. 
As,  however,  I did  not  shed  any  tears  nor  utter 
any  cry  of  pain,  they  imagined  that  this  kind  of 
beating  did  not  affect  me  much.  So  the  kadi 
ordered  the  instruments  of  torture  to  be  brought 
from  the  police  office,  and  then  said,  ‘ Throw  him 
down.  Put  on  him  the  falagah  ’ (a  species  of 
foot-rack  for  raising  and  holding  the  feet  tight 
for  the  bastinado).  He  then  arose  and  com- 
menced beating  me  on  the  thighs.  Ayub  Kashif, 
already  mentioned,  came  forward  also  and  beat 
me,  then  the  mufti  and  his  scribe,  and  then  the 
learned  men  in  turn.  Then  they  sat  down  and 
said,  ' Let  every  one  who  loves  the  Prophet  beat 
this  accursed  one ! ’ This  continued  for  about 
half  an  hour,  when  the  crowd  began  to  desist  a 
little,  on  seeing  that  I was  in  a fainting  condition. 
Then  one  of  them  kicked  me  on  the  head  to  arouse 
me.  Ayub  Kashif  came  forward  again  and  com- 
menced beating  me  on  my  bare  feet,  saying  to 
those  who  held  the  falagah,  ‘ Screw  it  tight.’ 
The  kadi  also  came  forward  again,  together  with 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 


143 


those  aforementioned,  and  took  their  turn  in  beat- 
ing me,  saying  to  the  crowd,  ‘ Why  have  you  quit 
beating  him?'  One  replied,  ‘We  fear  he  will 
die.'  Whereupon  the  kadi  and  Ayub  Kashi f 
called  out,  ‘Kill  him!' 

“ This  second  bastinadoing  lasted  about  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  when  I swooned  away,  and 
they  began  to  think  I was  dead.  On  reviving,  I 
said  to  Ayub  Kashi f,  ‘ For  God's  sake  have  pity 
on  me.'  He  replied,  ‘ Become  a Moslem,  O ac- 
cursed one ! and  thou  shalt  be  delivered.'  I then 
cried,  ‘ Oh  Jesus,  save  me.'  Upon  this,  he  ex- 
claimed, ‘ Kill  him,  and  let  Jesus  come  and  save 
him.'  " 

Faris  was  then  dragged  to  the  governor’s 
house,  and,  as  the  latter  was  out,  he  was  dragged 
to  prison.  Later,  he  was  sent  in  a dying  condi- 
tion, as  it  was  thought,  to  his  house,  where  he 
recovered  somewhat  and  was  remanded  to  prison. 
Meanwhile,  the  American  consul-agent,  Mr. 
Wasif-el-Khayat,  sent  to  Cairo  to  the  American 
Consul,  a statement  of  what  had  happened.  A 
reply  came  back,  saying  that  the  latter  had  just 
been  removed  from  office.  The  Moslem  gov- 
ernor of  Assiut,  however,  realising  that  he  had 
to  deal  vigorously  with  what  promised  to  become 
an  extensive  religious  riot,  arrived  in  Assiut  the 
next  day,  called  into  his  presence  the  kadi  and 
other  learned  men,  reproved  the  kadi^  rebuked 


144  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Ayub  Kashi f severely,  and  blamed  others  also 
for  the  seditious  proceedings. 

The  case  was  finally  reported  to  Hon.  W.  S. 
Thayer,  Agent  and  Consul-General  of  the  United 
States,  and,  after  various  attempts  had  been  made 
to  condone  the  crime  committed  against  an  Amer- 
ican protege,  Mr.  Thayer  succeeded  in  having 
justice  meted  out.  What  this  consisted  in  ap- 
peared in  the  reply  which  the  government  sent  to 
the  Consul,  ‘‘  Order  has  been  sent  to  Assiut  to 
fine  the  thirteen  men  whose  names  you  gave  me 
this  morning,  each  according  to  the  degree  of  his 
responsibility,  to  the  amount  of  100,000  piasters 
($5,000).  Order  has  been  given  to  the  governor 
of  Alexandria  to  send  that  sum  to  your  consulate, 
with  the  request  that  you  will  give  it  to  Paris. 
Order  has  been  sent  to  Assiut  to  put  these  thir- 
teen men  in  prison  for  one  year.'' 

After  a month  and  a half  had  elapsed,  there 
was  an  opportunity  of  securing  the  release  of  the 
men  imprisoned.  This  came  to  them  as  such  a 
surprise,  that  the  ringleader,  Ayub  Kashif,  a 
wealthy  merchant,  gave  a banquet  of  some  forty 
courses  to  Dr.  Lansing,  who  had  arrived  in  As- 
siut, and  to  Paris,  whom  he  had  persecuted.  This 
gave  Dr.  Lansing  the  opportunity  of  saying  to 
him,  “ Know,  sir,  that  your  Koran  imprisoned 
you,  and  our  Gospel  released  you." 

‘‘  The  successful  issue,"  says  Dr.  A.  Watson, 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 


145 


‘‘  of  such  a glaring  case  of  Moslem  hate  and  per- 
secution effectually  prevented  for  a long  time 
any  outward  and  unlawful  opposition  to  the  mis- 
sion work  in  the  region  of  Assiut.’’ 

Of  the  romance  referred  to,  only  an  outline 
can  be  given.  Dhulip  Singh,  an  Indian  Prince, 
bearing  the  title  Maharajah,  son  of  Rungit  Singh, 
the  last  of  the  kings  of  the  Punjab,  was  on  his 
way  from  England  to  India,  to  consign  the  body 
of  his  deceased  mother  to  her  friends,  to  be  buried 
according  to  the  rites  of  the  religion  in  which  she 
lived  and  died.  This  had  been  her  dying  re- 
quest. This  young  prince,  himself  a Christian, 
had  lived  in  England  since  the  time  when  Great 
Britain  had  taken  his  father’s  kingdom  and  had 
retired  the  young  heir  with  a pension.  Being  of 
royal  blood,  his  social  rank  put  him  next  to  the 
royal  family.  He  was,  besides,  a favourite  of 
the  Queen.  In  1864,  then,  while  in  Cairo,  he 
visited  the  Mission,  inspected  its  schools,  and  left 
a hundred  dollars  as  prize  money  for  deserving 
children,  and  again  two  hundred  and  fifty  more. 
‘‘  His  modesty,  simplicity  and  humility,  and  the 
genial,  loving,  genuine  tone  of  his  Christian  char- 
acter,” impressed  themselves  upon  the  mission- 
aries. But  he,  too,  had  been  impressed  by  a 
sweet  face  in  the  Mission  Girls’  School.  It  is  a 
long  and  beautiful  story,  for  which  there  is  not 
space  here ; the  serious  conferences  of  the  Prince 


146  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


with  the  missionaries,  his  prayerful  and  noble 
purposes,  the  girl  Bamba’s  anxiety  in  the  presence 
of  so  strange  a providence,  the  final  decision,  the 
marriage,  life  in  England — an  inexperienced 
Abyssinian  girl  in  the  highest  circles  of  British 
social  life,  but  yet  possessing  redeeming  qualities 
in  the  natural  dignity  and  the  sweet  spirit  of  a 
daughter  of  the  King — then  some  dark  experi- 
ences, and  the  sunset  hour!  Nor  is  there  oppor- 
tunity to  enlarge  on  the  reverse  side  of  the  story 
in  its  significance  to  the  Mission:  $5,000  for  the 
Mission,  given  as  a thank-offering  to  the  Lord,  at 
the  time  of  the  wedding,  and  $5,000  annually  for 
twelve  years  toward  the  support  of  missionaries, 
then  $10,000,  and  again  another  $10,000,  given 
shortly  before  the  Maharajah’s  death.  These 
gifts  came  as  the  Lord’s  deliverance  to  the  Mis- 
sion at  a time  of  great  financial  stringency. 

THE  STORM  OF  COPTIC  PERSECUTION 

The  rapid  development  of  missionary  work 
during  the  first  decade,  which  has  just  now  been 
surveyed,  brought  the  American  Mission  into  con- 
flict with  the  Coptic  Church.  In  an  earlier  chap- 
ter, the  policy  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
was  noted.  The  fact  that  this  Society  did  not 
attempt  to  build  the  enlightened  Copts  into  an 
independent  Church  avoided  an  open  breach  be- 
tween them  and  the  Coptic  ecclesiastical  author- 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION  147 

ities.  On  the  other  hand,  the  missionaries  ex- 
pressed their  dissatisfaction  with  the  limitations 
placed  upon  them  by  this  nominal  affiliation  with 
the  Coptic  Church.  The  policy  of  the  American 
missionaries  differed  at  this  point,  in  that,  while 
they  too  hoped  and  laboured  for  the  reformation 
of  the  ancient  Coptic  Church,  they  justified  an 
independent  Church  organisation  both  as  a means 
to  such  a reform  movement  and  as  a simple  re- 
ligious necessity  for  those  who  were  dissatisfied 
with  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  their  Church. 

The  Coptic  authorities  had  shown  their  dis- 
approval of  evangelical  teaching  even  in  the  days 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  and  had  ban- 
ished to  a convent  a priest  who  had  displayed 
too  great  an  interest  in  such  teaching.  The  atti- 
tude of  the  Coptic  officials  toward  the  American 
missionaries  and  their  teaching  was  naturally 
also  one  of  disfavour,  while  the  defection  of 
Copts  in  Cairo  and  their  formal  allegiance  to  the 
Protestant  faith  were  only  tolerated  because  the 
Coptic  officials  did  not  wish,  as  yet,  to  force  an 
issue.  In  1865,  however,  the  opening  of  a mis- 
sion station  at  Assiut  forced  this  issue. 

The  Coptic  Church,  claiming  one-fourteenth  of 
the  population  of  Egypt,  is  strongest  in  Upper 
Egypt.  It  constitutes  in  Lower  Egypt  but  three 
per  cent,  of  the  population,  whereas  in  Upper 
Egypt  the  Copts  make  up  eleven  and  six-tenths 


148  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


per  cent,  of  the  population.  One-fourth  of  the 
population  of  Assiut  was  Coptic  in  the  days  with 
which  we  are  now  dealing.  By  opening  up  a sta- 
tion at  Assiut,  the  missionaries  were  intruding 
into  a stronghold  of  the  Coptic  Church.  Open 
opposition  and  persecution  were  bound  to  follow. 
The  missionaries,  who  already  knew  the  situation 
at  Cairo,  evidently  expected  opposition  to  their 
work,  for  Dr.  Hogg,  to  whom  fell  the  responsi- 
bility of  opening  the  new  station,  wrote  in  his 
diary  after  his  arrival  at  Assiut : “ Stole  a march 
on  the  wakeful  Patriarch.  A month  at  work  in 
Assiut  before  his  envoy  arrived.  An  open  door. 
Counted  sixty-five  men  present  on  the  third  Sab- 
bath.” Very  soon  after,  we  find  this  entry:  “ The 
haram  (interdict).  The  door  closed.”  The  op- 
position had  begun,  for,  while  the  Coptic  bishop 
told  Dr.  Hogg  he  was  not  referring  to  him  in 
the  public  warning,  which  was  read  in  the  church, 
against  heretics  and  their  teachings,  no  other  in- 
terpretation was  possible. 

The  great  persecution,  however,  did  not  break 
out  until  1867.  Meanwhile  the  Patriarch  was 
noticing  the  spread  of  evangelical  teaching.  Call- 
ing upon  the  relatives  of  a monk  who  had  joined 
the  Protestants,  he  found  the  son  of  this  man 
reading  the  new  translation  of  the  Bible.  Why 
do  you  read  such  a book?  ” he  exclaimed.  Don’t 
you  know  that  the  Americans  have  corrupted  the 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 


149 


Word  of  God  and  made  it  teach  heresy  ? ” The 
young  man  turned  around  and  replied,  “ How  do 
you  know  that  it  teaches  heresy  ? Where  are  the 
Bibles  that  you  have  caused  to  be  printed  for  your 
people?  Bring  us  a copy,  and  we  shall  compare 
it  with  that  printed  by  the  Americans  and  see 
whether  the  latter  teaches  heresy  or  not.  Mean- 
while, we  intend  to  read  and  study  this  till  you 
furnish  us  with  a better.”  The  next  night,  on 
entering  the  patriarchate,  the  Patriarch  found  his 
own  brother  reading  this  same  version  of  the 
Bible.  “ What ! ” he  exclaimed.  “Am  I to  be- 
lieve my  eyes?  Is  it  not  enough  that  the  people 
outside  are  buying  and  selling  these  heretical 
books,  but  my  own  brother  must  show  them  the 
example!  Out  with  you!  You  are  disgracing 
me  before  the  whole  Church.  Send  this  book 
back  at  once,  or  I will  burn  it  before  your  face.” 
His  brother  indignantly  declared  that  the  Patri- 
arch was  guilty  of  blasphemy  in  saying  that  the 
Word  of  God  taught  heresy,  and  he  refused  to 
give  up  the  book. 

The  whole  contention  between  the  evangelical 
missionaries  and  the  Coptic  officials  presents  a 
very  close  analogy  to  the  contention  which  raged 
in  Apostolic  days  between  the  early  Christians 
and  the  Jews  or  even  the  Judaising  Christians 
who  so  bitterly  attacked  Paul.  On  the  one  side 
was  a spiritual  apprehension  of  truth;  on  the 


ISO  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


other,  regard  only  for  the  letter  of  law.  On  the 
one  side  was  a doctrine  of  salvation  through  faith 
and  of  grace;  on  the  other,  salvation  by  works 
and  legalism.  On  the  one  side  were  the  common 
people  who  believed;  on  the  other,  arrogant  and 
domineering  officials  and  rulers. 

The  Coptic  persecution,  which  broke  out  in 
fury  in  1867  against  the  Protestants,  was  not  an 
accidental  outbreak  of  fanatical  jealousy  and  hate. 
It  was  a deliberate  plan  to  which  the  government 
lent  its  authority  and  influence  to  make  effective 
the  efforts  of  the  Coptic  Church  to  wipe  out  Prot- 
estantism for  ever.  Ismail,  the  reigning  Khedive, 
was  far-sighted  enough  to  appreciate  that  the 
standards  which  the  American  missionaries  were 
setting  up  would  directly,  or  indirectly,  result  in 
holding  up  to  criticism  and  condemnation  his  un- 
just and  tyrannical  treatment  of  his  ignorant  and 
patient  subjects.  To  directly  attack  the  mission- 
aries and  the  Protestant  community,  would  bring 
him  into  difficulty  with  the  foreign  consuls,  and 
would  damage  the  reputation  which  he  especially 
wished  to  enjoy  of  being  a liberal-minded  ruler. 
In  the  hostility  of  the  Coptic  hierarchy  to  the 
Protestant  reformers,  he  found  a convenient  tool 
for  the  accomplishment  of  his  purposes.  It  is 
easy  in  the  East  to  give  a hint,  and  a hint  is 
enough  to  create  a revolution.  The  hint  was 
given  and  a revolution  of  sentiment  followed. 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 


151 

The  Coptic  Patriarch,  regarded  by  all  devout 
Copts  as  the  vicar  of  Christ  on  earth,  and  called 
by  them  the  earthly  Christ,”  arranged  an  apos- 
tolic tour  among  the  churches  of  Upper  Egypt. 
His  retinue  made  no  secret  of  his  mission,  and, 
declaring  this  to  be  for  the  suppression  of  the 
Protestant  heresy,  they  boldly  asserted  that  the 
Viceroy  had  conferred  upon  his  Holiness  the 
right  to  condemn  to  the  galleys  all  those  who 
opposed  him  by  adhering  to  the  Protestant  faith, 
or  to  seize  their  children  for  the  army. 

There  is  no  more  interesting  chapter  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Mission  in  Egypt  than  that  which 
tells  of  this  persecution.  We  have  time  only  to 
refer  to  some  *of  the  leading  facts.  At  Assiut, 
the  Patriarch’s  entrance  into  the  city  was  made  to 
imitate  Christ’s  triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem. 
“ Seated  on  a donkey  and  preceded  by  the  priests 
and  boys,  bearing  crosses,  flags,  palm  branches, 
lighted  candles,  and  burning  censers,  beating  on 
cymbals  and  chanting  in  Coptic  as  they  went 
along,  ' Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David,  blessed  is 
he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,’  the  pro- 
cession moved  slowly  along  from  the  river  up  to 
the  town,  armed  soldiers  marching  in  front  and 
in  rear,  by  order  of  the  government.” 

The  task  of  purifying  (?)  the  Church  occu- 
pied the  Patriarch’s  whole  attention  while  he  was 
in  Assiut.  His  first  act  was  characteristic  of 


152  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


those  which  followed.  He  summoned  before  him 
the  Coptic  priest  of  Beni  Aleig,  who  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  permitting  his  brother,  one  of  the 
Mission’s  theological  students,  to  conduct  the 
evangelistic  service  in  his  church  at  the  close  of 
the  Coptic  mass  on  Sabbaths,  and,  after  having 
him  severely  beaten  by  one  of  the  government 
soldiers,  he  degraded  him  from  his  priesthood 
and  drove  him  out  of  his  presence.” 

Unable  to  attack  the  Protestant  Church  itself, 
the  Patriarch  undertook  to  destroy  the  Protestant 
schools.  The  Theological  Seminary  had  been 
opened  but  a week  before  the  Patriarch’s  arrival. 
Three  students,  who  had  formerly  been  monks, 
were  cursed  publicly.  One  of  these,  the  brother 
of  the  Coptic  priest  just  mentioned,  had  been 
publicly  cursed  before,  and  an  additional  curse 
did  not  seem  to  weigh  on  him.  The  relatives  of 
the  other  two  felt  so  disgraced  that  they  violently 
seized  one  of  the  young  men,  and  gave  him  into 
the  hands  of  the  Patriarch,  whom  he  was  com- 
pelled to  accompany  through  his  tour  and  back 
to  Cairo.  The  other  young  man  escaped  only 
by  hiding  himself  in  the  Mission  building.  The 
Patriarch  then  tried  to  destroy  the  day  schools  by 
attacking  the  parents  of  the  scholars.  This  did 
not  succeed  entirely,  as  most  of  the  students  were 
from  a distance,  and  local  authority,  therefore, 
failed  to  reach  them. 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 


153 


A Patriarchal  haram,  or  bull  of  warning  and 
denunciation,  was  read  in  church  against  the 
Protestants.  Referring  to  the  Protestant  Church 
permitting  converted  Coptic  monks  to  marry,  the 
haram  said,  ‘‘  They  deceive  the  priest  who  has 
become  a soldier  for  Christ,  and  has  vowed  chas- 
tity and  celibacy,  and  strip  from  him  the  honour 
of  his  priesthood,  and  take  from  him  the  robe  of 
chastity  and  plunge  him  into  a sea  of  lusts,  offer- 
ing him  certain  women  in  the  semblance  of  mar- 
riage of  those  women  whom  they  have  caught  in 
their  snares,  in  which  as  we  have  before  said,  we 
fear  they  may  entrap  some  of  your  own  daugh- 
ters.” Sabbath  afternoon  was  spent  in  collect- 
ing and  burning  Protestant  books.  ‘‘  Shall  we 
burn  this  one  too?  ” said  one,  holding  up  a large 
copy  of  the  new  translation  of  the  Bible.  “ Heap 
up  the  fire ! ” was  the  only  reply. 

Breathing  out  threatenings,  and  accompanied 
by  the  bishop  of  Abutig,  notorious  for  his  drunk- 
enness and  tyranny,  the  Patriarch  left  Assiut  for 
the  town  of  Ekhmim.  Here  a school  had  been 
opened  by  a Girgis  Bishetly,  who  had  joined  the 
Protestant  Church  at  Cairo.  Summoned  before 
the  Patriarch,  he  was  reviled  and  banished  from 
the  town  under  pain  of  death.  “ If  he  refuses  to 
go,”  were  the  words  of  the  Patriarch,  “ then  beat 
him  till  he  dies,  and  cast  his  body  into  the  Nile, 
and  if  any  one,  even  if  the  Viceroy  himself,  calls 


154  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 

you  to  account  for  doing  so,  say  the  Patriarch 
ordered  it/’ 

The  town  of  Kus  was  visited  next.  On  his 
way,  however,  a Copt  who  was  American  con- 
sular agent  at  Kena,  informed  the  Patriarch  that 
the  American  consul-general  had  sent  him  tele- 
graphic orders  to  take  notice  of  what  his  Holiness 
might  do,  and  report.  This  intimation  is  thought 
to  have  lent  comparative  moderation  to  some  of 
his  plans.  At  Kus  there  was  a strong  Protestant 
party,  of  whom  Fam  Stephanos  was  one.  He 
was  tax-collector  of  the  town  and  district,  and 
was  widely  known  for  his  integrity  and  faithful- 
ness. The  Patriarch  summoned  all  to  appear  be- 
fore him.  They  declined,  however,  to  respond 
since  he  had  no  lawful  civil  authority  to  command 
their  presence.  The  fact  that  one  of  the  Ameri- 
can missionaries  was  at  that  time  in  Kus  doubtless 
served  to  protect  the  Protestants,  but,  neverthe- 
less, many  of  them  suffered.  Two  Protestants 
on  their  way  home  were  attacked,  one  receiving 
a beating,  the  other  having  his  clothes  torn  by 
a soldier  of  the  Patriarch.  Others  were  led, 
through  fear,  to  renounce  their  interest  in  Protes- 
tantism. Others  were  beaten  in  the  streets  or 
attacked  as  they  approached  the  Mission  house. 
Even  after  the  Patriarch  left,  the  persecution 
went  on.  Two  turners  were  repeatedly  driven 
out  of  a nearby  market,  and  a woman,  who  had 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 


155 


also  declared  her  faith  in  Christ  alone  for  salva- 
tion, was  beaten  with  a whip  of  hippopotamus 
hide.  These  sufferings,  however,  were  trivial 
compared  with  what  had  been  originally  planned 
by  the  Patriarch. 

Returning  to  Cairo,  the  Patriarch  continued  to 
feed  the  fires  of  persecution  by  suggesting  to  the 
civil  authorities  various  attacks  upon  the  Protes- 
tants at  different  points.  Earn  Stephanos  of  Kus, 
whose  name  was  a household  word  for  honesty 
and  uprightness,  was  ordered  to  be  banished  to 
the  Sudan,  an  order  equivalent  to  death.  The 
story  of  his  deliverance  is  as  interesting  as  any- 
thing in  fiction  and  affords  a remarkable  parallel 
to  Peter's  deliverance  through  prayer  in  the  days 
of  Herod.  The  Patriarch  also  undertook  to  de- 
stroy the  Protestant  schools  by  having  their  pupils 
deprived  of  immunity  from  conscription — a priv- 
ilege hitherto  accorded  to  all  schools,  and  whose 
withdrawal  from  any  single  class  of  schools 
would  necessarily  rob  them  immediately  of 
patronage. 

A great  burden  was  laid  upon  the  missionaries 
during  these  troublous  times,  comforting  the  per- 
secuted, strengthening  the  wavering,  and  seeking 
redress  from  the  government  for  these  unjust 
acts.  It  was  during  these  days  that  the  divine 
provision  was  manifest  in  the  special  gifts  dis- 
played by  different  missionaries  in  meeting  these 


156  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


emergencies.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Currie  had  a gift 
for  ministering  to  the  afflicted  that  made  him  re- 
garded by  many  natives  as  a veritable  angel  in 
disguise.  The  Rev.  John  Hogg  was  a leader 
whose  courage  and  spiritual  energy  could  be 
daunted  by  no  obstacles  or  difficulties,  not  even 
those  of  persecution.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Lansing  had 
a kingly  bearing  that  ever  marked  him  as  primus 
inter  pares,  and  to  him  fell  the  task  of  enlisting 
every  official  influence  possible  in  securing  re- 
dress. 

Appeal  after  appeal  and  visits  without  number 
were  made  to  the  British  and  American  consul- 
agents,  as  well  as  to  the  different  departments  of 
the  Egyptian  government,  to  secure  a cessation  of 
the  unjust  persecution  of  Protestants.  Though 
these  appeals  failed  in  large  measure  to  bring  per- 
fect redress,  they  availed  in  several  instances  to 
prevent  loss  of  life  and  to  bring  to  an  end  flagrant 
abuse  of  power  exercised  against  the  Evangelical 
community  in  Upper  Egypt. 

In  spite  of  persecution,  if  not  because  of  it,  the 
religious  interest  spread  and  deepened.  At  As- 
siut  especially,  things  were  in  a ferment.  A 
group  of  men  within  the  Coptic  Church  started 
a meeting  to  study  Scriptures.  When  they  came 
to  Romans,  the  priests  insisted  that  the  commen- 
taries of  the  fathers  should  be  read  also,  arguing 
that  those  in  attendance  were  still  weak  and 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 


157 


needed  milk.  “True,”  was  the  rejoinder,  “and 
therefore  you  wish  us  to  leave  the  true  milk  of 
the  Word  and  go  munching  hard  crusts.”  Nei- 
ther side  would  give  in  and  the  meetings  were 
abandoned. 

In  spite  of  interdict  and  opposition,  the  meet- 
ings of  the  evangelicals  were  both  maintained  and 
well  attended.  The  frequency  of  such  meetings 
— they  were  held  every  night  and  three  times  on 
Sabbath — enabled  the  timid  ones  to  choose  their 
own  time  for  slipping  in  unobserved.  Among 
those  who  came  we  read  of  Habl,  the  carpenter; 
Athanasius,  the  wheelwright;  Kleir,  the  miller; 
Hanna,  the  dux  of  the  Coptic  school;  Feltus,  the 
goldsmith.  The  whole  situation  presents  a vivid 
analogy  to  that  of  the  spread  of  Christianity  in 
Apostolic  days!  The  accession  of  two  of  the 
wealthiest  Copts  of  the  city  gave  to  the  strug- 
gling Protestant  Church  at  Assiut  a stronger  in- 
fluence still. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  the  story  of  this  inter- 
esting period  in  detail.  To  take  a broad  survey, 
we  take  our  stand  at  the  close  of  the  year  1869. 
Fifteen  full  years  have  passed  since  the  American 
Mission  was  founded.  The  Protestant  Church 
in  Egypt  now  numbers  180  members.  Its  yearly 
contributions  amount  to  $566.  It  is  difficult  to 
believe,  when  these  figures  are  quoted,  that  so 
small  a movement  could  have  aroused,  let  alone 


158  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


have  outlived,  the  hostility  of  a Patriarch  whose 
Church  numbered  hundreds  of  thousands  and 
who  was  receiving  also  a large  measure  of  support 
from  the  civil  authorities.  But  numbers  do  not 
reveal  the  full  power  of  any  movement.  This 
Evangelical  Church,  though  small,  had  a spiritual 
life  that  was  self-extending,  self-projecting,  irre- 
sistible. This  life  was  also  receiving  symmetrical 
development.  Rooted  in  the  Word  of  God,  resting 
upon  the  power  of  the  Indwelling  Spirit,  it  now 
had  its  presbyterial  organisation,  two  organised 
native  congregations,  smaller  groups  of  believers 
at  different  centres,  eleven  schools,  besides  the 
foundation  for  a college,  and  a Theological  Sem- 
inary, almost  in  embryo,  but  yet  training  young 
men  for  future  leadership.  It  had  one  native 
pastor,  eight  American  men  missionaries,  two  un- 
married women  missionaries,  with  regular  sta- 
tions at  Cairo,  Alexandria  and  Monsurah,  in  the 
Faiyum,  and  at  Assiut.  Even  now  the  life  of  a 
great  ecclesiastical  organism  was  beginning  to 
pulsate!  Four  hundred  and  thirty-eight,  on  an 
average  every  Sabbath  morning,  listened  to  a 
pure  gospel,  and  633  boys  and  girls  received  daily 
the  impress  of  a Christian  education. 

EXPANSION  AND  ORGANISATION 

The  next  decade  of  the  Mission’s  history  was 
one  of  expansion  and  organisation.  The  growth 


MISSION  HOSPITAL  AT  ASSIUT 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  AT  CAIRO 
Faculty  and  Students 


- THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 


59 


of  the  work  during  this  period  is  really  note- 
worthy. The  membership  of  i8o,  with  which 
the  period  opens,  more  than  quintuples  in  ten 
years,  becoming  985.  The  attendance  at  service 
advances  from  438  to  2,083.  Schools  increase 
from  twelve  to  twenty-four;  and  instead  of  633 
young  lives  under  its  influence,  the  Mission  has 
2,218.  Growth  in  numbers  is  accompanied  by 
growth  in  grace,  and  in  the  grace  of  liberality, 
too,  (often  a supreme  test),  for  while  the  average 
per  member  of  native  contributions  to  church 
work  was  $3.14  in  1870,  ten  years  later  it  was 
$4.80,  while  the  total  contributions  went  up  from 
$566  to  $4,726. 

A section  in  the  Assiut  Report  for  1870  goes  a 
long  way  toward  explaining  this  phenomenal 
growth.  The  section  is  entitled,  “ New  Centres 
of  Operations  and  the  Development  at  Each  of  a 
System  of  Aggressive  Action  on  the  Part  of  In- 
dividual Converts  Labouring  Without  Pay.” 

Here  we  read  of  such  male  members  of  the 
Church  as  are  unable  to  go  to  villages  and  towns 
at  a distance,  being  enrolled  as  Sabbath  School 
teachers,  or  as  workers  in  the  lanes  and  market 
places.  Others  go  off  in  pairs  and  generally 
spend  a night  at  the  village  or  town  which  they 
visit.  Some  are  absent  as  long  as  a week  at  a 
time.  From  one  old  congregation  fifteen  go  out; 
from  another  twelve.  The  corps  is  not  only 


i6o  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


directed,  but  led  by  the  missionaries  themselves, 
who  generally  take  the  most  distant  towns, 
though  they  must  be  back  at  work  in  the  Semi- 
nary early  on  Monday.” 

Then,  too,  a remarkable  interest  in  the  study 
of  God’s  Word  developed.  In  the  Assiut  Dis- 
trict, thirty  night  meetings  were  held  each  week 
throughout  the  entire  year  of  1872;  the  average 
attendance  at  each  meeting  was  twenty  persons. 
In  1873,  no  less  than  624  night  meetings  were 
held  in  the  town  of  Assiut  alone,  while  neigh- 
bouring towns  reported  313,  373,  and  391  meet- 
ings, respectively. 

Another  factor  which  aided  in  the  rapid  ex- 
pansion of  the  work  and  the  growth  of  the  Native 
Evangelical  Church,  was  the  acceptance  of  the 
truth  by  men  of  influence.  For  example,  in 
Nakheilah,  where  there  is  to-day  an  earnest,  spir- 
itually-minded Protestant  congregation  of  some 
300  members,  the  open  profession  of  his  faith  in 
the  new  doctrine  on  the  part  of  Tadrus  Abu  Zag- 
lami,  resulted  in  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Church 
in  that  section.  Tadrus  was  a man  of  position, 
and  head  of  the  laity  of  the  Coptic  sect  in  the 
whole  region.  Yet  he  renounced  worldly  hon- 
our, joined  the  small  and  despised  Protestant 
party,  opened  up  his  house  to  their  preachers  and 
stood  for  their  defence,  silencing  their  opponents. 
He  always  carried  a copy  of  the  New  Testament 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION  i6i 

in  his  pocket,  and  wherever  he  went  and  whom- 
ever he  met,  he  never  lost  an  opportunity  of 
presenting  its  teachings.  Earnest,  humble,  sin- 
cere, and  lovable,  his  influence  reached  far,  while 
all  members  of  his  large  household  were  also 
brought  to  a saving  knowledge  of  the  truth;  this 
gave  him  unfeigned  delight.  Having  lived  “ in 
faith,  the  faith  which  is  in  the  Son  of  God,”  he 
also  joyfully  obeyed  his  Master’s  summons  to  ap- 
pear in  His  presence.  He  must  have  been  about 
eighty  years  old  when  he  died. 

While  these  missionary  successes  were  achieved, 
for  the  most  part,  through  work  among  the  Copts, 
nevertheless,  every  possible  opportunity  was  im- 
proved for  presenting  the  truth  to  Moslems  also. 
This  was  done  at  that  time,  as  to-day,  chiefly 
through  educational  work.  The  result  of  such 
work  was  seen  in  the  conversion,  during  this 
period,  of  Ahmed  Fahmi.  His  persecution  con- 
stituted an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Mission. 

Ahmed  and  his  two  brothers  had  been  pupils 
in  the  Mission  school  in  Cairo.  Their  father  was 
a clerk  in  the  Moslem  court  of  appeal,  a man  of 
good  position  and  some  wealth.  While  Ahmed 
was  attending  the  Mission  School,  he  also  took 
lessons  in  the  Azhar.  ' The  influence  of  the  Mis- 
sion School  upon  him  was  not  immediately  ap- 
parent. It  had  taught  him  to  read  English  and 
French,  and  had  brought  him  into  touch  with  the 


i62  in  the  valley  OF  THE  NILE 


truth  and  opened  to  him  certain  books;  that 
seemed  to  be  all. 

Later  Ahmed  was  employed  as  a teacher  of 
Arabic  for  the  new  missionaries.  One  of  the 
text-books  used  was  the  Bible.  After  his  con- 
version he  told  how  he  tried  hard  not  to  think  of 
the  meaning  as  the  daily  chapter  was  read. 
After  a while  he  began  to  ask  questions,  and  was 
finally  persuaded  that  Christianity  was  true. 
‘‘  He  had  great  conflict  of  soul.  On  one  side  was 
the  honour  of  his  family  and  friends,  and  the  ter- 
rible disgrace  he  would  bring  upon  himself  and 
his  loved  ones  (for  he  dearly  loved  his  parents, 
brothers,  and  sisters).  On  the  other  hand  the 
terrible  persecution  and  death  that,  perhaps, 
would  follow;  the  hate  that  would  take  the  place 
of  the  fond  love  in  the  hearts  of  his  relatives. 
Then  there  was  the  love  of  Christ  and  the  promise 
of  salvation  through  Him  alone.  After  a long 
and  fierce  struggle,  the  decision  was  made,  en- 
couraged thereto  by  the  assurance  that  he  would 
receive  “ a hundred-fold  more  in  this  life  with 
persecution,  and  in  the  world  to  come  life  ever- 
lasting.” On  November  26,  1877,  he  was  bap- 
tised. It  was  a touching  scene.  Everybody  felt 
that  he  had  literally  given  up  everything  for 
Christ. 

The  news  of  Ahmed's  defection  spread  through- 
out the  city.  It  was  not  safe  for  him  to  leave 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION  163 


the  Mission.  His  Moslem  friends  came  there  to 
see  him;  they  brought  learned  men  to  argue  him 
back  to  Islam.  Arguments,  entreaties,  tears,  and 
threats  were  used,  but  without  success.  One 
evening,  as  he  w^as  going  from  one  missionary’s 
home  to  that  of  another,  a disguised  band,  led  by 
his  brother,  kidnapped  him.  That  night  was,  for 
the  missionaries,  one  of  great  anxiety  and  earnest 
prayer. 

Ahmed  was  finally  located.  He  was  alive  and 
safe,  but  under  the  strictest  surveillance  of  his 
relatives.  This  lasted  for  five  weeks.  He  was 
assured  by  them,  that,  according  to  Moslem  law, 
he  would  be  murdered.  The  entreaty  of  his 
mother,  who  seemed  to  be  dying,  was  also 
brought  to  bear  upon  him.  Under  this  pressure, 
he  assented  formally  to  the  Moslem  creed.  He 
sent  word,  however,  to  the  missionaries,  who  had 
been  having  no  access  to  him,  that  he  was  a 
Christian.  A few  days  later,  he  escaped  to  the 
Mission,  where  he  was  received  with  great  joy. 
Appeals  were  made  to  the  government  by  the 
British  and  American  consuls  for  the  safeguard- 
ing of  Ahmed’s  rights  under  the  act  allowing  re- 
ligious liberty,  and  orders  were  indeed  given  to 
Ahmed’s  relatives  that  they  would  be  responsible 
for  his  life.  Public  sentiment  was,  however,  be- 
yond the  government’s  control.  It  continued  to 
be  unsafe  for  Ahmed  to  appear  in  public.  Un- 


i64  in  the  valley  OF  THE  NILE 


nerved  by  five  months’  confinement  in  the  Mission 
and  in  his  father’s  house,  he  was  glad  to  accept 
an  offer  of  the  Earl  of  Aberdeen  to  go  to  Scot- 
land and  pursue  further  studies  there.  The  noble 
Earl,  a loyal  friend  to  the  Mission,  assumed  all 
expenses  of  this  trip  and  of  Ahmed’s  subsequent 
course  of  study  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh. 
On  completing  his  course  of  study,  Ahmed  re- 
ceived an  appointment  as  a medical  missionary  to 
China  under  the  London  Missionary  Society. 

These  experiences  showed  that  the  day  had 
passed  when  a Moslem  could  be  legally  put  to 
death  in  Egypt  for  becoming  a Christian,  but 
they  also  revealed  the  power  of  Islam  and  its 
relentless  hostility  toward  Christianity. 

This  period  has  been  characterised  as  one  of 
organisation,  as  well  as  of  expansion.  The  de- 
velopment of  the  work  and  the  growth  of  the 
Native  Church  called  for  adjustments,  rules,  and 
new  organisations.  “ The  Egyptian  Association 
of  the  Missionaries  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  of  North  America  ” was  an  organisation 
which  appeared  during  this  period.  An  important 
distinction  was  thus  made  between  the  Mission  and 
its  agents  as  related  to  the  Church  in  America, 
and  the  ecclesiastical  organisation  of  the  Native 
Church.  To  the  Native  Church  Presbytery  were 
committed,  freely,  all  ecclesiastical  matters,  such 
as  the  oversight  of  students  of  theology,  their  licen- 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 


165 

sure  and  ordination,  the  organisation  of  congrega- 
tions, the  use  of  money  contributed  by  the  native 
churches ; this  responsibility  developed,  in  the 
Native  Church,  self-government  and  self-direc- 
tion. To  the  Missionary  Association  were  com- 
mitted the  location  of  American  missionaries,  the 
disbursement  of  funds  received  from  America, 
the  control  of  missionary  institutions  supported 
by  foreign  funds.  This  adjustment  was  one  of 
great  importance  for  the  proper  delimitation  of 
authority,  and  the  avoidance  of  friction  in  admin- 
istration. 

During  this  period,  also,  a number  of  what  are 
to-day  the  strongest  Protestant  congregations  in 
Egypt,  were  organised.  Thus  to  the  successes  of 
the  Mission  in  winning  individual  converts  there 
was  added  the  more  significant  success  of  build- 
ing these  up  into  self-directing,  self-supporting, 
and  self-extending  native  congregations.  Of  one 
congregation  we  read,  ‘‘  They  not  only  ask  no 
help  from  the  Mission,  but  actually  refused  it 
when  offered  them.  The  moral  effect  of  this  ex- 
ample will  be  felt  not  only  throughout  Egypt,  but 
even  in  Syria.’'  Of  another  congregation  we 
read,  ‘‘  Their  contributions  last  year  averaged 
eight  dollars  per  member.” 

Hindrances  ought  also  to  be  spoken  of.  In 
addition  to  much  persecution  of  individual  con- 
verts, we  discover  that  government  officials  fre- 


1 66  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


quently  refused  to  Protestant  congregations  per- 
mission to  build  houses  of  worship,  or  even  to 
worship  in  school  buildings  already  erected.  For 
three  years  the  members  in  Kus  laboured  under 
such  a double  disability;  yet  the  work  of  grace 
persisted  and  even  increased  in  power. 

Of  the  political  events  of  this  period,  which 
displaced  Ismail  from  being  Khedive  and  placed 
Tewfik  upon  the  throne,  we  may  not  speak  here. 

Surveying  the  results,  after  a quarter  of  a cen- 
tury of  work  on  the  part  of  the  American  Mis- 
sion, we  find  its  main  stations — naming  them  in 
the  order  of  their  establishment — at  Cairo,  at 
Alexandria,  at  Assiut,  in  the  Faiyum,  at  Mon- 
surah; we  find  eleven  organised  congregations 
scattered  all  the  way  from  Alexandria,  at  the  sea- 
board, to  Nakheilah,  some  four  hundred  miles  up 
the  Nile;  the  Gospel  of  salvation  by  faith  has 
brought  985  persons  to  an  open  confession,  while 
the  truth  is  also  working  powerfully  in  the  hearts 
of  hundreds  of  others.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
early  Christianity  in  Egypt  made  more  rapid 
progress  than  this  during  the  first  two  and  a half 
decades  of  its  history.  If  it  be  objected  that  the 
modern  missionary  movement  has  an  undue  ad- 
vantage in  the  existence  of  communities  of  Copts, 
the  reply  may  be  made  that  early  Christianity  en- 
joyed an  exceptional  advantage  in  the  existence 
of  communities  of  Jews.  Neither  does  the  dif- 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSION  167 


ference  between  a Jew  of  the  first  century,  partic- 
ularly in  Egypt,  and  a Christian  of  the  first  cen- 
tury, seem  greater  than  that  existing  to-day  be- 
tween the  ordinary  Copt  and  the  present-day 
Protestant. 

There  were  a number  of  factors  which  con- 
tributed to  the  rapid  progress  of  the  work  already 
described. 

A deep  reverence  for  the  Bible.  The  Copts 
accepted  the  Word  of  God.  While  the  priests 
gave  prominence  to  the  sayings  of  the  fathers 
and  the  decrees  of  Councils,  and  while  the  Word 
of  God  was  not  known  for  lack  of  copies  or 
through  illiteracy,  yet,  in  the  thought  of  the  peo- 
ple, God’s  Word  was  a final  authority.  This 
proved  an  invaluable  reenforcement  to  evangeli- 
cal missions. 

The  Evangelistic  Spirit.  There  was  a marked 
zeal  in  communicating  to  others  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth.  This  was  done  informally,  individu- 
ally,— a natural  and  spontaneous  activity  in  what 
we  call  to-day  “ personal  work.”  The  gospel  of  sal- 
vation through  faith  in  Christ  spread  rapidly  by 
the  endless  chain  ” method  of  communication. 

The  Spirit  of  Inquiry  and  Discussion.  The 
earnestness  with  which  truth  was  examined  was 
in  sharp  contrast  with  the  spirit  of  religious 
apathy,  which,  far  too  greatly,  characterises  our 
Western  life.  In  Egypt,  the  missionaries  found 


i68  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


little  difficulty  in  maintaining  meetings  almost 
every  night  of  the  year  for  religious  inquiry  and 
discussion. 

The  Conversion  of  Leading  Men.  It  pleased 
God  to  glorify  His  gospel  by  displaying  its  power, 
again  and  again,  to  attract  and  transform  the 
lives  of  leading  men  in  the  communities  in  which 
it  was  preached.  Not  only  the  personal  influence 
of  these  men,  but  their  financial  resources  also, 
enabled  the  growing  Church  to  establish  and 
equip  itself  more  rapidly.  This  was  signally  the 
case  at  Assiut,  at  Nakheilah,  at  Kus,  and  in  a 
measure  in  Cairo. 

Gifted  and  Devoted  Missionary  Characters. 
It  would  require  a series  of  biographies  to  do 
justice  to  the  service  of  these  pioneer  missionaries 
in  the  Nile  Valley.  They  were  indeed  “ wise 
master-builders  ” and  true  was  the  foundation 
they  laid,  in  doctrine,  in  organisation,  in  methods 
of  work.  Their  gifts  varied,  but  in  scholarship, 
in  leadership,  in  adaptability,  in  the  rare  union  of 
the  spiritual  with  the  practical,  in  organising  tal- 
ent, in  personality,  or  else  in  marvellous  capacity 
for  work,  the  missionary  work  in  Egypt  com- 
manded the  services  of  rare  men. 

These  were  at  least  the  chief  factors  which 
entered,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  into  the  mis- 
sionary successes  of  the  quarter  of  a century 
which  has  been  surveyed. 


V 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS 

IT  was  in  1517  that  Egypt  became  a Turkish 
pashalic  through  the  conquests  of  Osman  Sul- 
tan Selim  I.  For  two  centuries,  Turkish 
pashas  endeavoured,  with  varying  success,  to  up- 
hold in  Egypt  their  own  authority  or  that  of  their 
sovereign,  the  Sultan,  against  the  mameluke  fam- 
ilies, whose  leaders  .had  formerly  governed  the 
country,  and  who  still  held  great  influence  and 
power.  In  1798,  Napoleon  Bonaparte  occupied 
Egypt  and  converted  it  into  a province  of  France. 
Three  years  later,  the  British  victory  at  Alexan- 
dria forced  him  to  evacuate  Egypt,  and  once 
more  the  country  reverted  to  the  Porte. 

Only  a half-decade  later,  Mohammed  Ali,  a 
young  Albanian,  compelled  the  Sultan  to  recog- 
nise him  as  Pasha  of  Egypt,  and,  a few  years 
later,  by  his  military  prowess  secured  concessions 
from  the  Sultan  which  made  him  almost  an  in- 
dependent ruler,  wdth  Egypt  for  his  kingdom. 
Thus  was  established  the  Khedivial  line  of 
rulers. 


169 


I/O  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


We  now  pass  to  the  year  1863  when  there  came 
to  the  Khedivial  throne  one  whose  reign  proved 
“ a carnival  of  extravagance  and  oppression.”  In 
fourteen  years,  this  Khedive,  Ismail  Pasha,  ad- 
vanced the  national  debt  of  Egypt  from  the  mod- 
est sum  of  about  three  million  pounds  sterling 
to  the  appalling  amount  of  eighty-nine  million 
pounds.  Even  before  he  had  reached  this  state 
of  bankruptcy,  European  influence  had  done 
something  to  avert  a financial  crash,  but  in  1879 
heroic  measures  had  to  be  adopted.  Ismail  was 
deposed  and  the  financial  affairs  of  the  country 
were  placed  under  the  control  of  an  International 
Debt  Commission,  representing  France,  Germany, 
Russia,  Austria,  Italy,  and  Great  Britain. 

When  Tewfik  succeeded  his  father,  Ismail,  as 
Khedive  of  Egypt,  the  country  was  indeed  in  a 
sorry  state.  The  treasury  was  depleted;  the  re- 
sources of  the  country  had  been  reduced  by  mal- 
administration or  mortgaged  by  former  loans; 
taxation  had  been  advanced  until  it  was  ruinous; 
the  people  were  discontented;  the  army  was  in 
the  hands  of  unscrupulous  men ; a non-elastic  and 
unsympathetic  financial  policy  administered  by 
foreigners  controlled  the  expenditures  of  the  gov- 
ernment. His  was  a rough  road  to  travel,  and  the 
new  Khedive  had  neither  great  administrative 
gifts,  nor  worthy  counsellors,  to  assist  him  in 
dealing  with  this  difficult  situation. 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  17 1 


THE  BRITISH  OCCUPATION 

In  1881,  a military  revolution  broke  out  in 
Cairo.  In  1882,  this  developed  into  a widespread 
rebellion  headed  by  Arabi.  A massacre  took 
place  in  Alexandria.  Foreigners  began  to  leave 
the  country.  Representing  the  Powers,  England 
and  France  sent  their  fleets  to  Alexandria  to  sup- 
press the  rebellion.  France  refusing  to  co- 
operate, the  British  fleet  bombarded  Alexandria 
on  July  II,  1882.  On  September  13th,  the 
rebels  were  defeated  at  Tel-el-Kebir.  On  the 
14th,  an  advanced  guard  reached  Cairo.  The 
next  day.  Sir  Garnet  Wolseley  and  the  British 
army  formally  occupied  the  city. 

The  volumes  that  describe  the  effect  of  British 
occupation  upon  Egypt  are  neither  few  in  num- 
ber nor  small  in  size.  Milner,  Adams,  Traill, 
Worsfold,  Penfield,  White,  Dicey,  and  most  re- 
cently, as  well  as  most  fully  and  authoritatively. 
Sir  Auckland  Colvin  in  his  “ The  Making  of 
Modern  Egypt,” — have  told  of  the  benefits  which 
have  accrued  to  Egypt  from  the  British  occupa- 
tion in  the  solution  of  the  nation’s  debt  problem, 
the  reduction  of  taxation,  the  development  of  the 
country’s  resources  by  irrigation,  reforms  in  the 
Department  of  Justice,  marvellous  strides  in  edu- 
cation, the  restraint  of  lawlessness  among  for- 
eigners, the  suppression  of  bribery,  the  safe- 


172  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


guarding  of  peace,  the  prevention  of  official 
tyranny.  Here  we  are  concerned  with  the 
effect  of  this  political  change  upon  missionary 
work. 

The  entrance  of  Great  Britain  into  Egypt  must 
be  recognised  as  an  event  of  great  significance  to 
the  missionary  movement.  However,  as  several 
years  elapsed  before  British  policy  assumed  an 
entirely  definite  form  and  before  the  relation  of 
that  policy  could,  therefore,  become  noticeable, 
the  consideration  of  this  question  is  left  to  a later 
section.  Two  immediate  results  of  British  occu- 
pation may  be  noted  here.  One  was  the  entrance 
into  Egypt,  following  the  flag,  of  the  British 
organisation  that  had  once  before  laboured  in  the 
Nile  Valley,  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  The 
other  was  the  practical  suspension  of  those  acts 
of  official  tyranny  which  had  constituted  so  wide- 
spread and  so  open  a persecution  of  Protestants. 

THE  AMERICAN  MISSION 

During  the  days  of  the  Arabi  Rebellion,  the 
American  missionaries  and  their  work  had  en- 
joyed a remarkable  manifestation  of  God’s  pro- 
tecting power.  When  on  June  ii,  1882,  with 
shouts  of  ‘‘  Death  to  the  Christians,”  a band  of 
Moslem  ruffians,  armed  with  clubs,  attacked  for- 
eigners in  the  streets  of  Alexandria,  and  while 
hundreds  were  killed  or  injured  for  life,  neither 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  173 


missionary  nor  native  Christian  of  the  Mission 
in  that  city  lost  his  life. 

Again,  on  July  nth,  when  the  city  of  Alexan- 
dria was  bombarded  by  the  British  and  when  the 
rebels,  by  looting  the  city  and  setting  fire  to  it, 
added  widespread  ruin  to  what  was  but  partial 
damage,  it  was  found  that  the  property  of  the 
Mission  was  undamaged,  save  that  a bookstore 
was  robbed  of  a few  secular  books. 

In  Cairo,  too,  while  September  15th  had  been 
set  by  the  Moslems  for  killing  and  plundering  the 
Christians  in  that  city,  both  Protestants  and  Copts 
escaped  their  expected  fate  by  the  arrival  of  the 
British  on  the  day  previous  to  the  date  fixed  for 
the  attack  upon  the  Christians.  And  although 
the  evangelical  community,  scattered  throughout 
the  Nile  Valley,  were  often  in  great  fear  and  anx- 
iety, and  although  the  Moslems  about  them  threat- 
ened to  murder  all  the  Christian  men  and  appro- 
priate their  wives  and  daughters  and  property, 
yet,  during  all  these  troublous  times,  not  one 
of  these  Protestant  Christians  was  harmed,  nor 
their  services  interfered  with.  Again  were  the 
words  of  the  Psalmist  verified,  “ The  angel  of 
Jehovah  encampeth  round  about  them  that  fear 
Him.” 

In  1883,  the  country  was  visited  by  an  epi- 
demic of  cholera.  Over  four  hundred  deaths 
occurred  at  Cairo  in  a single  day.  The  official 


174  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


reports  placed  the  total  number  of  deaths  in  the 
country  at  over  40,000.  The  missionaries,  how- 
ever, enjoyed  immunity  from  the  dread  disease 
and  continued  at  their  posts  ministering  to  the 
sick. 

While  thus  protected  from  danger  from  with- 
out, the  Mission  underwent  trial  in  the  defection 
of  some  from  the  faith.  A missionary  who  had 
left  the  Mission  in  1869,  because  of  false  views, 
usually  designated  as  Plymouthism,  returned  to 
Egypt  and  endeavoured  to  sow  heresy  among  the 
congregations  established  by  the  Mission.  Under 
the  plea  of  special  sanctity,  as  well  as  of  personal 
indigence  because  unsupported  by  any  mission, 
and  being  already  acquainted  with  many  of  the 
people  from  his  former  residence  in  Egypt,  he 
readily  secured  an  entrance  and  a hearing  wher- 
ever he  went.  Many  were  carried  away  by  his  false 
teachings;  among  them  two  pastors.  After  fail- 
ing in  repeated  interviews  to  restore  these  breth- 
ren, the  Native  Presbytery  found  it  necessary  to 
put  them  out  of  the  ministry,  while  the  mission- 
aries and  the  Presbytery  strove  to  check  this 
harmful  movement,  by  a fuller  expounding  of  the 
Scriptures  bearing  on  the  disputed  points.  The 
leaders  of  the  movement  went  to  extreme  lengths 
in  teaching  that  unordained  laymen  could  admin- 
ister the  sacraments,  and  subsequently  fell  out 
among  themselves  about  certain  teachings.  A re- 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  175 

action  against  the  movement  resulted  and  it  prac- 
tically died  out  altogether,  the  people  generally 
declaring,  “ We  will  stick  to  the  Church  that 
gave  us  the  gospel.”  A spiritual  coldness,  how- 
ever, developed  in  the  very  places  where  the 
movement  had  created  the  greatest  excitement. 

Special  interest  among  Moslems  appeared  after 
the  Arabi  Rebellion.  The  reasons  for  this  are 
not  hard  to  find.  The  failure  of  the  rebellion, 
and  the  downfall  of  the  mosque  party  which  had 
aided  Arabi,  blasted  the  hopes  of  those  who  had 
expected  the  establishment  of  a Moslem  regime. 
Then  again,  as  almost  every  missionary  knows, 
there  are  a great  number  of  Moslems  who  in 
secret  avow  their  disbelief  of  Islam  and  their 
belief  in  Christianity.  Many  of  them  expected  a 
large  measure  -of  religious  liberty  to  obtain,  be- 
cause of  the  British  occupation.  Their  inquiries 
about  Christianity  became  more  open  and  re- 
peated. The  experience  of  a convert,  Mohammed 
Habib  — who  accepted  Christianity,  and  was 
seized,  dragged  to  the  kadi’s  court,  maltreated, 
robbed  of  his  goods,  and  then  had  his  wife  taken 
from  him,  while  he  was  sent  to  a government 
insane  asylum, — was  not  calculated  to  reassure 
them  in  their  hopes.  His  arrest  was  brought  to 
the  attention  of  the  British  representatives  in 
Egypt,  but  the  Egyptian  Prime  Minister  per- 
suaded Her  Majesty’s  Consul-General  that  the 


i;6  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


presence  of  this  convert  would  be  the  cause  of 
religious  disturbances,  and  so  he  was  banished 
for  over  a year  to  Cyprus.  It  is  true  that  subse- 
quently his  faith  in  Christ  suffered  eclipse,  never- 
theless the  hardships  he  experienced  at  this  time 
put  a check  temporarily  upon  an  encouraging 
movement  among  Moslems. 

With  all  these  hindrances: — rebellion,  cholera, 
defection,  and  persecution — the  Church  grew. 
During  the  brief  period  of  five  years  after  the 
quarter-centennial  anniversary  of  the  Mission’s 
establishment,  the  number  of  organized  congre- 
gations grew  from  ii  to  19;  the  membership' 
from  985  to  1,688;  and  the  average  attendance 
at  Sabbath  morning  services,  from  2,083  to  3,1 14. 

A DECADE  OF  GREAT  CHANGES 

During  the  years  1885  to  1894  great  changes 
began  to  take  place  indhe  political  and  industrial 
life  of  the  country  as  a result  of  British  admin- 
istration. These  have  been  noted  in  earlier  chap- 
ters. This  period,  however,  was  also  one  of 
marked  changes  in  the  life  of  the  American  Mis- 
sion. Changes  occurred  in  the  force  of  American 
missionaries. 

In  1886,  the  Rev.  John  Hogg,  a prince  of 
Christian  workers,  died;  one  on  whom  the 
Protestant  community,  in  many  places,  depended 
so  entirely  for  encouragement,  advice,  and  leader- 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  177 


ship,  that  the  people,  at  his  death,  were  alone 
saved  from  despair  by  the  historic  saying,  “ God 
is  not  dead/'  At  his  funeral,  as  the  people  passed 
by  the  coffin  in  a seemingly  endless  procession, 
“ to  look  for  the  last  time  on  the  placid  face  of 
the  great  and  good  man  who  had  done  so  much 
and  laboured  so  long  in  their  midst,”  the  Moham- 
medan governor,  who  was  present,  exclaimed, 
“ How  they  loved  this  man ! ” and  this  governor 
and  his  attendants  showed  their  respect  for  the 
deceased  by  walking  to  the  city  limits. 

In  1889,  Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Lansing  {nee  Dales) 
passed  to  her  reward.  She  was  the  first  married 
woman  missionary  of  the  Church  she  represented, 
to  go  to  the  foreign  field.  She  had  a rare  power 
in  leading  souls  to  Christ.  Foreigners  and  na- 
tives, missionaries,  mission  workers,  pupils  in 
the  schools,  and  travellers,  all,  were  drawn  to  her 
by  the  irresistible  charm  of  her  sympathy  with 
others  and  her  love  for  them. 

In  this  period,  too,  in  1892,  the  Rev.  Gulian 
Lansing,  D.D.,  died,  after  thirty-five  years  of 
missionary  service.  He  was  a man  of  great 
faith.  “ One  day  his  colleague.  Dr.  Hogg,  en- 
tered his  room  in  Cairo  and  said,  ' Dr.  Lansing, 
I have  nothing  with  which  to  get  dinner.'  Dr. 
Lansing,  taking  the  last  dollar  out  of  his  purse, 
gave  it  to  him,  saying,  ‘ Take  that.’  ‘ But  what 
will  we  do  for  to-morrow  ? ’ asked  Dr.  Hogg. 


178  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


' Never  mind  to-morrow;  the  Lord  will  provide/ 
replied  Dr.  Lansing,  and  so  He  did.  For  the  next 
day  a letter  came  enclosing  a small  remittance.’* 
Dr.  Lansing  also  had  great  persistency  of  pur- 
pose. To  him,  perhaps,  more  than  to  any  one  else 
belongs  the  credit  of  securing  funds  for  the  erec- 
tion of  the  splendid  Cairo  Mission  premises,  near 
Shepheard’s  Hotel.  Dr.  Lansing  will  be  remem- 
bered particularly  as  a man  of  striking  personal- 
ity. Genial  and  social,  keen  and  cool  in  argument, 
dignified  and  kingly  in  his  bearing,  he  was  the 
spokesman  of  the  Mission  in  official  circles.  To 
him  chiefly  is  due  the  credit  of  securing  for  the 
Protestant  Church  in  Egypt  legal  standing 
through  a recognition  of  it  by  the  government 
as  a religion  or  sect. 

There  were  also  changes  of  leadership  in  the 
Native  Church  during  this  decade.  During  this 
decade  Fam  Stephanos  died.  He  was  a remark- 
able character.  Tall,  broad-shouldered,  with  fine 
physique,  long  beard,  and  kingly  bearing,  he 
could  easily  be  chosen  as  an  ideal  type  of  an 
Eastern  patriarch.  He  had  joined  the  Protes- 
tant body  in  the  early  days  of  its  weakness,  and 
reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  storm  of 
persecution  that  burst  upon  him.  He  became  the 
leader  of  a strong  Protestant  community  at  Kus. 

Remarkable  changes  also  seemed  to  be  affect- 
ing the  life  of  the  Coptic  Church.  The  diffusion 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  179 


of  religious  knowledge,  and  especially  the  distri- 
bution of  the  Scriptures  by  the  Mission,  led  many 
of  the  Copts,  who  wished  to  adhere  to  the  Coptic 
Church,  to  ask  whether  both  in  worship  and  doc- 
trine the  Coptic  Church  might  not  be  reformed. 
In  many  places,  accordingly,  pictures  were  re- 
moved from  the  churches,  and  a more  liberal  use 
of  the  Arabic  and  a more  restricted  use  of  the 
dead  Coptic  began  to  obtain  in  the  Church  serv- 
ice. In  many  places  nightly  meetings  were 
- opened  for  the  study  of  the  Bible,  in  imitation  of 
the  methods  used  by  the  Protestant  workers.  At 
Assiut,  the  Coptic  Church  went  so  far  as  to  ask 
for,  and  secure,  the  services  of  a Protestant 
licentiate  to  conduct  religious  meetings  for  her 
members  for  an  entire  year.  In  the  higher  cir- 
cles of,  the  Church,  the  reform  spirit  manifested 
itself  in  the  organisation  of  a Council  to  rectify 
abuses  in  the  administration  of  the  financial  af- 
fairs of  the  Coptic  Church.  The  Patriarch,  how- 
ever, proved  intractable.  The  Council  secured  his 
temporary  banishment,  but,  failing  to  find  sup- 
port among  the  people,  the  reform  movement 
finally  failed  to  effect  any  real  change  in  the 
standards  and  policy  of  the  Coptic  Church. 

Most  important,  so  far  as  the  American  Mis- 
sion was  concerned,  was  a new  development  in 
the  policy  of  the  Mission  with  reference  to  the 
work  in  the  Delta.  Absorbed  with  the  oppor- 


i8o  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


tunity  for  evangelising  the  Copts,  and  for  ex- 
tending the  work  into  Upper  Egypt,  little  thought 
and  less  effort  could  be  spared  for  considering 
and  meeting  the  needs  of  the  Delta  population, 
which  is  almost  solidly  Mohammedan.  In  1893, 
however,  a missionary  station  was  opened  at 
Tanta;  in  1894,  missionary  stations  were  opened 
at  Benha  and  Zagazig.  The  American  Mission 
is  often  referred  to  by  those  who  are  not  fully 
acquainted  with  its  aims  and  policies  as  a Mis- 
sion to  the  Copts.  This  impression  is  doubtless 
due  to  the  extensive  development  of  the  work 
among  the  Copts,  owing  to  the  unusual  response 
which  Protestant  teaching  found  among  the 
members  of  this  faith.  The  aim  of  the  Mission, 
however,  has  always  been,  in  keeping  with  its 
mission  to  the  entire  nation,  to  reach  Moslems 
as  well  as  Copts.  And,  during  its  history,  the 
American  Mission  has  won  almost  three  times  as 
many  Moslem  converts  as  all  other  agencies  to- 
gether have  done.  Hundreds  of  Moslems  are  in 
the  American  Mission’s  schools,  hundred  of  oth- 
ers are  being  reached  by  the  Harem  worker,  the 
Colporteur,  and  the  Evangelist.  The  establish- 
ment of  Mission  stations  in  the  Delta,  however, 
gave  an  added  emphasis  to  the  hitherto  inade- 
quately developed  side  of  the  Mission’s  policy, — 
aggressive  and  special  efforts  in  behalf  of 
Moslems. 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  i8i 


With  its  continued  growth  in  membership  and 
influence,  the  Native  Protestant  Church  of  Egypt 
gave  indications  of  arriving  at  the  age  of  self- 
consciousness.  Having  developed  from  two  con- 
gregations to  eleven,  and  then  to  nineteen,  in  the 
three  periods  we  have  considered,  it  grew  in  the 
period  with  which  we  are  dealing  to  thirty-three 
organised  congregations.  The  time  when  an  in- 
fant Church,  made  up  of  scattered  communities 
and  widely  scattered  pastors,  “ finds  itself,”  to 
use  a phrase  of  Kipling,  is  a time  of  great  im- 
portance. It  marks  the  fulfilment  of  missionary 
hopes  and  prayers  and  efforts,  and  yet  it  marks 
a time  of  special  anxiety  and  responsibility. 

At  the  close  of  1894  the  work  of  the  American 
Mission  embraced  33  organised  congregations, 
with  a total  membership  of  4,554;  there  were 
1 19  week-day  schools  in  operation,  touching  7,975 
pupils;  while  the  Sabbath  morning  attendance 
could  claim  an  average  attendance  of  8,886 
persons. 

GROWTH  AND  DEVELOPMENT 

Two  words  sum  up  the  record  of  the  years 
which  follow  1895  and  which  bring  us  down  to 
the  present  time, — Growth  and  Development. 
This  survey  of  the  history  of  the  American  Mis- 
sion has  been  so  rapid  that  scarcely  any  refer- 
ence has  been  made  to  leading  institutions — 


1 82  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


the  College,  the  Seminary,  the  hospitals,  the 
large  boarding  schools.  No  account  has  been 
given  of  the  development  of  even  the  great  de- 
partments of  mission  work.  If,  then,  these  be 
introduced  abruptly  into  our  portrayal  of  the 
work  of  the  most  recent  years,  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  the  development  of  both  institu- 
tions and  departments  was  gradual.  Indeed,  al- 
most all  of  them  appeared  in  the  very  first  years 
of  the  missionary  movement,  although  necessa- 
rily in  very  elementary  form. 

The  Evangelical  Church,  which  had  had  but 
one  presbyterial  organisation  since  i860,  now  be- 
came a more  extensive,  as  well  as  a more  com- 
plex organisation.  On  February  22,  1899,  the 
fifty  organised  congregations  and  the  165  sta- 
tions,— together  embracing  6,515  members,  and, 
until  then  constituting  but  one  presbytery,  the 
Presbytery  of  Egypt, — were  divided  into  four 
presbyteries,  the  Presbyteries  of  Thebes,  of  As- 
siut,  of  Middle  Egypt,  and  of  the  Delta.  On 
May  nth  these  again  were  organised  into  the 
Synod  of  the  Nile.  These  presbyterial  divisions 
grew  out  of  evangelical  districts  which  had  been 
created  for  the  better  administration  of  home 
missionary  work  — a noble  pedigree  for  any 
presbytery  to  enjoy,  and  a proper  reminder  of 
the  true  purpose  of  all  church  organisation! 

In  educational  work  we  now  discover  that 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  183 


this  department  has  grown  to  such  an  extent 
that  we  now  have  a great  network  of  schools, 
enrolling  over  fifteen  thousand  scholars.  The 
significance  of  these  figures  may  be  inferred  from 
the  fact  that  the  enrolment  in  all  regular  gov- 
ernment schools  for  the  same  year  was  18,712. 
We  also  find  these  schools,  graded,  unified,  cor- 
related, so  that  each  adds  to  its  own  prestige  and 
power,  the  prestige  and  power  of  the  entire  mis- 
sionary movement. 

We  also  find  this  important  department  of  the 
Mission’s  work  to  a great  extent  self-supporting, 
paying  some  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  entire  ex- 
penses of  its  operation. 

We  find  at  the  head  of  it  a college,  Assiut  Col- 
lege, with  over  seven  hundred  students  drawn 
from  over  a hundred  towns  and  villages,  chiefly 
from  Upper  Egypt,  yet  there  is  representation 
from  thirteen  of  the  fourteen  Provinces  of  the 
country. 

We  find  the  students  of  this  college  every- 
where, from  Alexandria  to  the  farthest  outposts 
of  the  Sudan,  serving  as  editors  and  journalists, 
as  government  officials  both  in  Egypt  and  the 
Sudan,  in  railway  service,  in  the  post-ofiflces,  as 
bankers,  too,  as  merchants,  as  agriculturists, — 
and,  for  the  most  part,  upholding  by  their  lives 
and  teachings  the  standards  of  truth  and  moral- 
ity and  righteousness. 


1 84  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Of  this  institution  Mr.  John  R.  Mott,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  said: 
“After  visiting  nearly  all  the  missionary  colleges 
and  schools  of  importance  in  the  non-Christian 
world,  and  studying  their  work  and  opportuni- 
ties, I have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  As- 
siut  Training  College,  of  Egypt,  is  one  of  the 
most  strategic  in  the  world.  In  fact,  I know  of 
no  other  college  which  has  yielded  larger  prac- 
tical results  for  the  amount  of  money  expended 
than  this  particular  institution.” 

We  also  find  the  Pressly  Memorial  Institute 
and  the  Luxor  Girls’  School  for  girls  ministering 
to  the  higher  education  of  the  girls  of  Upper 
Egypt,  while  the  Girls’  School  at  Cairo  is  develop- 
ing into  a Girls’  College  for  the  elevation  of 
womanhood  in  Lower  Egypt. 

We  find  the  fruits  of  this  educational  depart- 
ment of  the  Mission  in  the  enlightenment  and 
literacy  of  the  Protestant  communities  every- 
where. A census,  taken  by  the  Mission  in  1898, 
showed  that  in  its  Protestant  community  of 
22,500  souls  there  were  521  out  of  every  1,000 
men  who  could  read,  and  200  out  of  every  1,000 
women.  The  government  census  of  the  previous 
year  could  show  in  the  country  at  large,  even  in- 
cluding foreigners,  only  124  out  of  every  1,000 
men,  and  only  ii  out  of  every  1,000  women,  who 
could  read.  But  more  than  this,  we  find  these 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  185 

schools  influencing  hundreds  of  lives  outside  the 
Protestant  community.  Indeed,  of  16,771  pupils 
enrolled  in  1908,  only  3,644  are  Protestants, 
while  3,495  are  Moslems,  and  8,547  are  Copts, 
the  rest  being  of  various  faiths. 

We  turn  to  the  Evangelistic  Department.  Here 
the  work  of  the  Mission  has  become  centralised. 
The  main  Mission  Stations  have  developed  so 
much  work  that  missionaries  do  not  itinerate  per- 
sonally among  the  towns  and  villages  to  the  ex- 
tent to  which  this  was  done  by  earlier  mission- 
aries. This  is  not  an  altogether  satisfactory  de- 
velopment, but  seems  unavoidable  when  the  work 
is  so  burdensome  at  these  centres  and  the  force 
is  inadequate. 

However,  the  work  directed  from  these  centres 
has  increased  considerably.  A strong  force  of 
Bible  women  visit  homes  and  carry  the  Gospel 
to  some  three  thousand  women,  who,  otherwise, 
would  scarcely  come  within  the  hearing  of  the 
Word.  Presbyterial  workers,  licentiates  and 
evangelists,  go  out  to  towns  and  villages  where 
no  other  missionary  work  is  done  and  preach  the 
gospel  or  speak  to  men  individually  about  its 
teachings.  While  still  more  direct  evangelistic 
work  would  be  desirable,  yet  the  effectiveness  of 
the  work  done  is  witnessed  by  the  fact  that,  while 
in  1894  five  hundred  were  regarded  as  a large 
number  to  be  added  to  the  Church  in  a single 


1 86  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


year  on  profession  of  their  faith,  most  recent  re- 
ports speak  of  almost  a thousand  accessions  in 
a single  year. 

The  Book  Department  has,  thus  far,  been  men- 
tioned only  incidentally.  The  cooperation  of  the 
American  Bible  Society  and  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  led  to  a wonderful  develop- 
ment of  this  work.  Who  can  estimate  the  far- 
reaching  influence  in  Egypt  of  the  printing  presses 
at  Beirut,  in  Syria!  The  sale  of  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  Bibles,  portions  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
religious  books,  every  year,  is  an  agency  for 
evangelising  Egypt  that  is  simply  immeasurable 
in  its  influence. 

Of  the  Medical  Department  nothing  has  been 
said.  Now,  however,  two  strong  and  well- 
equipped  institutions  appear:  one  at  Assiut,  the 
other  at  Tanta.  In  Assiut  Hospital  alone  more 
than  two  thousand  in-patients  are  cared  for  in  a 
single  year,  while  twenty  thousand  others  are 
reached  through  its  clinics.  Moreover,  the  insti- 
tution is  almost  entirely  self-supporting. 

The  opening  of  the  Sudan  followed  closely 
upon  the  overthrow  of  Mahdism  by  Kitchener, 
at  the  battle  of  Omdurman,  in  1898.  This  led 
to  important  missionary  developments.  The 
American  Mission  in  Egypt  sent,  in  1899,  l^wo  of 
its  missionaries  into  the  Sudan  to  explore  the 
country  and  report  on  the  prospects  for  opening 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  187 

up  missionary  work  in  that  country.  A favourable 
report  was  received,  and  four  missionaries  of  the 
Egyptian  Mission  were  detached  for  service  in 
the  Sudan. 

The  Native  Church,  too,  baptised  with  the  mis- 
sionary spirit,  came  to  regard  the  Sudan  as  her 
providentially  assigned  foreign  missionary  field. 
She  began  to  contribute  money  and  workers,  and 
the  inspiring  picture  is  presented  of  a mission 
Church  becoming  a missionary  Church. 

We  take  a final  survey  of  the  work  and  growth 
of  the  American  Mission  in  Egypt.  Its  foreign 
missionaries  number  (excluding  wives)  50  work- 
ers. To  these  add  37  young  men  and  women, 
foreign  workers  labouring  in  college,  school,  or 
hospital.  Forty-six  ordained  native  ministers 
and  15  licentiates  care  for  the  spiritual  interests 
of  60  organised  congregations  and  a membership 
of  some  10,000.  An  army  of  567  native  workers 
labour  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour.  Some  20,000  men  and  women  listen 
every  Sabbath  morning  to  the  preaching  of  the 
Word  by  those  who  are  connected  with  this  Mis- 
sion; 14,177  scholars  gather  for  further  instruc- 
tion in  the  Sabbath  School.  Nor  does  the  work 
lag  on  week-days,  for  16,771  boys  and  girls — 
3,459  of  them  Moslems — come  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Christian  schools  which  have  been 
established,  while  the  hospitals  and  clinics  touch 


1 88  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


with  the  hand  of  sympathy  and  healing  some 
35,000  lives  in  the  course  of  each  year.  Who 
may  also  reckon  the  far-reaching  influences  of 
the  work  done  among  the  5,720  women  receiving 
instruction  in  their  homes  from  the  harem  work- 
ers, or  the  labours  of  pastors  and  evangelists 
and  church  members,  too,  or  of  the  army  of  col- 
porteurs who  wield  the  Sword  of  the  Spirit! 
The  fact  that  of  the  total  cost  of  administering 
this  work,  $130,000  comes  from  the  natives  them- 
selves, either  in  fees  or  in  contributions,  or  53 
per  cent,  of  the  whole  amount,  is  a commentary 
in  itself  upon  the  wise  policy  of  self-support 
which  has  characterised  the  work.  To  all  this 
is  added  this  crowning  glory,  that  the  in-gather- 
ings on  confession  of  faith  attained  in  a single 
year  to  954. 

One  single  event  of  great  significance  remains 
to  be  recorded,  and,  with  it  this  survey  of  the 
work  of  the  American  Mission  in  Egypt  may  be 
brought  to  a close.  In  October,  1902,  after  a 
ten-day  conference,  characterised  by  earnest 
prayer  and  a deep  sense  of  responsibility  for  the 
spiritual  condition  of  their  mission  field,  the  mis- 
sionaries of  a sister-mission  in  India  issued  an 
appeal  to  the  Home  Church  for  180  new  mis- 
sionaries. This  appeal  contemplated  the  evangel- 
isation of  the  entire  territory  assigned  by  Provi- 
dence to  that  Mission.  Quickened  by  the  faith 


REjCENT  missionary  efforts  189 

of  their  brethren  in  India,  the  American  mission- 
aries in  Egypt  were  brought  face  to  face  with 
this  new  and  inspiring  conception, — the  actual 
evangelisation  of  Egypt.  Regarding  eight  of  the 
ten  millions  of  Egypt’s  population  as  fairly  con- 
stituting the  responsibility  of  their  Mission,  they 
asked  themselves  definitely  the  question.  What 
force  may  be  regarded  as  needed  for  the  adequate 
evangelisation  of  this  field?  After  long,  careful, 
and  prayerful  consideration  of  the  whole  subject, 
an  appeal  was  issued,  in  February,  1903,  to  the 
Church  in  America  for  280  new  missionaries. 
Never  in  her  history  was  the  Church  in  America 
so  stirred  as  by  these  appeals.  There  was  no 
gainsaying  the  necessity  of  having  at  least  the 
number  of  workers  which  the  appeals  called  for, 
if  the  millions  of  these  mission  fields  were  to  be 
evangelised.  Neither  was  there  any  gainsaying 
the  obligation  to  evangelise  these  fields  which  the 
clearest  providences  had  assigned  to  the  Church. 
The  only  question  was.  Would  the  Church  rec- 
ognise her  obligations,  assume  them,  and  go 
forth  to  discharge  them  in  the  strength  of  her 
Lord?  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Church, 
on  June  ist,  1903,  at  a solemn  and  prayerful  ses- 
sion, by  unanimous  rising  vote,  endorsed  the  ap- 
peals of  the  Missions  as  a true  statement  of  ex- 
isting need,  as  a true  statement  of  the  duty  of  the 
Church,  and  as  the  deliberate  purpose  of  the 


IQO  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Church  to  accomplish.  Action  similar  to  that  re- 
ferred to  has  been  since  taken  by  many  Church 
and  missionary  assemblies.  Upon  its  complete 
and  practical  acceptance  by  all  hinges  the  realisa- 
tion of  the  vision  which  has  been  lifted  for  the 
Nile  Valley  and  the  world — an  evangelised  Egypt 
and  an  evangelised  world. 


THE  CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

Among  the  results  of  British  occupation  the 
fact  was  merely  mentioned,  on  an  earlier  page, 
that  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  following 
the  flag,  was  led  to  take  up  work  anew  in  the 
Nile  Valley.  The  relation  of  this  second  effort  to 
that  of  the  Society  in  the  early  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  is  very  clearly  set  forth  in  the 
Society’s  own  Annual  Report. 

“ More  than  half  a century  ago  the  Society 
had  an  Egyptian  Mission,  a branch  of  its  great 
enterprise  for  the  enlightenment  and  revival  of 
the  Eastern  Churches.  That  enterprise,  which  at 
first  promised  well,  did  not  prove  successful,  al- 
though a large  number  of  the  Coptic  clergy,  and 
one  Bishop,  were  trained  in  the  Church  Mission- 
ary Society  Seminary  at  Cairo.  The  Society’s 
object  now  is  quite  different.  The  Copts  are  but 
a fraction  of  the  Egyptian  people.  Ninety-five 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  191 


per  cent,  are  believed  to  be  Moslems,  and  it  is  to 
them  that  the  Committee  would  direct  their 
efforts.” 

On  December  16,  1882,  the  Rev.  F.  A.  Klein, 
the  Society’s  experienced  Palestine  missionary 
and  Arabic  scholar,  arrived  in  Cairo.  Miss 
Whately  opened  to  him  the  half  of  her  school  for 
holding  services,  and,  through  the  attractions  of 
an  open  reading-room,  Mr.  Klein  came  into  touch 
with  many  Moslem  inquirers.  This  interest,  how- 
ever, Mr.  Eugene  Stock  says,  was  “ more  akin 
to  the  Athenian  curiosity  of  St.  Paul’s  day  than 
to  serious  inquiry.”  In  1884  Mr.  Klein  enumer- 
ates four  missionary  agencies  in  use : the  oppor- 
tunities afforded  by  Miss  Whately’s  dispensary 
and  schools,  a reading-room,  a Bible  depot,  and 
an  Arabic  service.  Of  the  latter,  however,  he 
says,  “ The  services  are  attended  chiefly  by 
Copts.”  The  next  year  we  find  a school  opened. 
Three  years  later,  in  j888.  Dr.  F.  J.  Harpur  was 
transferred  from  Arabia  to  Cairo,  and  opened  up 
medical  work  at  Old  Cairo.  Already,  therefore, 
a beginning  has  been  made  in  the  two  depart- 
ments of  work  upon  which  the  Mission  has  laid 
great  emphasis  in  its  efforts  to  reach  Moslems, — 
the  literary  agency  and  the  medical.  With  the 
arrival  of  reinforcements  and  funds,  schools  were 
opened  for  boys  and  girls  at  several  centres  in 
Cairo,  and  also  at  Heluan;  hospital  buildings  were 


192  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


erected  at  Cairo  and  a large  medical  work  de- 
veloped, while  some  itinerating  was  also  done  by 
the  medical  missionaries.  The  development  of  this 
work  cannot  be  followed  in  detail.  The  Soci- 
ety’s Mission  in  Cairo  was  regarded  as  a base  for 
advance  into  the  Sudan,  and,  in  1899,  the  Sudan 
Mission  of  this  Society  was  established. 

Since  the  Mission  definitely  declared  that  its 
purpose  was  to  reach  Moslems,  it  is  interesting  to 
notice  the  methods  used  for  realising  this  aim. 
In  the  first  place,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
missionaries  were  not  able  to  avoid  the  necessity 
of  coming  into  touch  to  some  degree  with  Copts. 
Coptic  children  naturally  attended  the  Mission 
schools,  and  adults  the  meetings.  Where  interest 
developed  it  followed  naturally  that  ecclesiasti- 
cal affiliation  was  sought.  The  missionaries  re- 
ceived such  as  applied  but  without  confirmation, 
since  their  policy  recognised  the  Coptic  Church 
as  a true  Church.  Then,  too,  the  employment 
of  Copts,  either  those  reached  by  them  or  those 
reached  and  trained  by  the  American  Mission, 
brought  the  Mission  into  further  relation  with  the 
Coptic  community.  A recent  visit  to  Upper 
Egypt  by  the  late  Rev.  Mr.  Thornton  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  also  led  him  to  urge 
his  Society  to  develop  what  he  regarded  as  a very 
promising  field  for  work  among  the  Copts  of  that 
part  of  the  country.  Such  work,  it  is  understood, 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EEFORTS  193 


would  be  along  the  lines  of  recognising  and  safe- 
guarding the  ecclesiastical  integrity  of  the  Coptic 
Church, — much  as  did  the  former  missionary  ef- 
forts of  this  Society,  more  than  a half-century 
ago.  If  this  work  be  taken  up,  it  will  be  most 
interesting  to  note  whether  a renewal  of  this 
policy  will  result  in  this  ancient  Church  accepting 
evangelical  truth  and  effecting  necessary  reforms, 
or  whether  it  will  again  show  opposition  to  all 
that  would  mean  vital  quickening.  The  Society’s 
identification  with  an  Episcopal  polity  and  defer- 
ence to  the  Coptic  Church  as  a historic  Church 
would  naturally  give  her  missionaries  a special 
advantage  in  undertaking  this  task,  if  it  is  a prac- 
tical undertaking.  The  present  friendly  attitude 
of  the  Coptic  Church  toward  the  Society  is  indi- 
cated by  the  fact  that,  in  accordance  with  a Coptic 
custom  of  holding  memorial  services  for  those 
whose  loss  it  mourns,  forty  days  after  their  de- 
cease, the  Coptic  Church  begged  leave  to  arrange 
a special  memorial  service  for  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Thornton  of  the  C.  M.  S.  Apart  from  sustain- 
ing these  relations  to  the  Coptic  Church  the  So- 
ciety has  adhered  to  its  declared  policy  of  la- 
bouring among  Moslems. 

The  most  effective  method  of  cultivating  the 
Moslem  field  has  been  to  locate  in  the  midst  of 
distinctly  Mohammedan  communities.  This  has 
been  done  very  successfully  in  Cairo,  where,  as 


194  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


in  all  Oriental  cities,  certain  sections  of  the  city 
are  distinctly  Moslem,  and  others  are  not. 

This  Mission  has  also  done  some  very  valu- 
able and  aggressive  work  in  devising  new  meth- 
ods of  approaching  Moslems.  Of  these  the  most 
conspicuous  is  the  publication  of  a semi-religious 
weekly  paper.  Orient  and  Occident.  At  the  end 
of  its  second  year,  in  1906,  it  was  estimated  that 
the  paper  had  several  thousand  Egyptian  readers, 
of  whom  over  a thousand  would  be  Moslems. 
Indeed,  a priceless  opportunity ! Among  the  con- 
tents of  the  paper  are  illustrated  articles  on  Old 
and  New  Testament  history  and  discussions  of 
the  authenticity  of  the  Scriptures,  Moslem  and 
Christian  views  of  inspiration,  and  the  agnostic 
and  negative  drift  of  Moslem  theology. 

Another  method  has  been  a “ general  meeting, 
at  which  an  address  on  some  social,  national,  his- 
torical, or  moral  subject  was  delivered  in  Eng- 
lish and  Arabic,  followed  by  a general  discussion 
in  Arabic.”  At  this  no  religious  discussions  were 
allowed,  but  the  meetings  were  used  to  effect  an 
acquaintance  and  draw  Moslems  to  other  meet- 
Questions  were  debated,  such  as  Female 
Education,  the  Drink  Question,  Moral  Purity, 
and  Lessons  from  the  history  of  Greece,  Rome, 
England,  Japan,  Egypt. 

Another  agency  is  “ an  evangelistic  meeting 
often  followed  by  a disputation.”  Of  these  meet- 


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RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  195 

ings  we  read : “ The  evangelistic  meetings  were, 
of  course,  much  more  trying  and  difficult  things 
to  manage.  It  seemed  impossible,  in  the  first 
place,  to  get  the  Sheikhs  to  attend,  unless  we  gave 
them  a disputation  after  the  address.  For  that 
they  would  listen  quietly  to  a Gospel  appeal,  in 
order  to  enjoy  afterwards  the  dispute  their  souls 
love.  Those  disputations ! How  often  scenes  of 
excitement  culminated  in  the  uproarious  exit  of 
the  whole  audience ! ” 

To  these  agencies  were  added  much  personal 
work,  open  reading-rooms,  and  the  distribution 
of  moral  and  religious  tracts  at  fairs  and  public 
gatherings.  For  their  earnest  application  of  mind 
and  heart  to  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  reach- 
ing Moslems  great  credit  is  to  be  given  to  the 
missionaries  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 
Necessarily,  at  first,  definite  results  will  come  but 
slowly  in  so  difficult  and  resisting  a field  as  the 
Moslem  world. 

In  1885,  the  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer 
reports  the  first  Moslem  baptised  in  Egypt  by  one 
of  their  missionaries,  and  at  the  close  of  1905  the 
Rev.  W.  N.  T.  Gairdner  writes:  ‘‘In  1904,  we 
had  already  baptised  nine  Moslems;  and  to  the 
end  of  this  year,  twenty.” 

The  following  account  of  the  conversion  of  the 
son  of  a judge  in  the  Islamic  Court  of  Jerusalem 
casts  many  side  lights  on  the  Moslem  problem, 


196  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 

as  also  upon  the  work  of  the  Mission : “ He  was 
well  known  to  us  last  year  as  a frequent  inter- 
rupter of  our  meetings.  One  day  in  the  autumn 
Mr.  Thornton  encountered  him  in  the  book  depot. 
He  was  carping  at  the  Gospel  when  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton taxed  him  with  insincerity  in  carping  at  a 
book  he  had  never  read.  He  promised  to  read. 

“ From  that  point  forward  things  moved  fast. 
Side  by  side  with  the  ‘ Life  of  Christ  ’ he  read  a 
'Life  of  Mohammed.’ 

" The  difference  between  the  two  was  over- 
whelming. It  silenced  many  of  his  doubts.  He 
became  more  and  more  impressed  with  the  Gospel 
story  and  teachings,  he  felt  he  must  get  the  mat- 
ter decided.  One  night  he  sat  up  for  hours  read- 
ing the  Gospel  and  the  Koran  alternately.  He 
went  to  bed,  but  could  not  sleep.  Rising  he 
spread  out  the  two  books  and  prayed,  saying, 
' God,  show  me  which  of  the  two  ways  is  right.’ 
After  agonised  prayer  he  lay  down  and  slept  and 
dreamt  that  he  was  in  a meadow  alone;  there 
came  to  him  ‘ no  form,  but  a Voice,’  and  this  is 
what  it  said : ' Thou  shalt  have  thy  desire,  thou 
shalt  be  led  into  the  Way.’  No  more  than  this — 
and  he  found  himself  broad  awake  with  the  scene 
and  Voice  indelibly  imprinted  in  his  mind.  He 
rose  and  went  to  the  Azhar ; and  all  that  day  two 
feelings,  not  self-inspired,  took  possession  of 
him;  one  was  a strange  drawing  towards  Chris- 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  197 


tianity;  the  other  an  equally  strange  aversion  to 
every  Moslem.  He  took  this  to  be  the  sequel  to 
the  Voice — to  be  the  finger-post  pointing  at  the 
parting  of  the  ways.  So  strong  did  the  feeling 
of  aversion  become  that  he  was  forced  to  with- 
draw himself  from  his  class  in  the  Azhar,  and  to 
go  into  a more  secluded  part  of  the  great  Mosque, 
and  sit  down  and  study — what?  There  in  the 
heart  of  Islam,  that  place  consecrated  by  nine 
centuries  to  the  study  and  propagation  of  the 
Koran,  this  sheikh  opened  and  studied  the  ‘ Gos- 
pel of  Jesus  Christ ! ’ 

“ All  this  happened  when  his  eKamination,  with 
which  his  mind  was  full,  was  only  a few  days 
distant.  He  went  in  for  his  examination,  and 
passed  it.  Then  he  left  the  Azhar,  never  to  re- 
turn, with  a huge  certificate  signed  by  I don’t 
know  how  many  turbaned  sheikhs,  each  name 
with  the  seal  of  its  owner  under  it. 

“ He  wrote  to  his  father  in  Jerusalem,  con- 
fessing all,  and  straightway  took  Christ’s  people 
as  his  people.  For  some  months  he  was  under 
testing  and  instruction.  It  was  quickly  seen  that 
his  character  was  a beautiful  one,  and  his  abili- 
ties very  striking.  After  sufficient  instruction  he 
was  baptised  on  Ash  Wednesday,  February  28th, 
in  a crowded  church  in  Old  Cairo,  with  great 
joy. 

“ He  is  a very  able  fellow,  and  he  was  able  to 


198  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


be  teacher  of  Arabic  with  great  success  in  one  of 
our  schools.  Everybody,  whether  English  or 
Egyptian,  liked  him  for  his  courtesy,  good  breed- 
ing, and  real  Christian  character.  The  rapidity 
and  ease  with  which  he  apprehended  anything 
he  was  taught  made  one  feel  how  truly  his  spirit 
had  been  enabled  to  grasp  the  things  which  St. 
Paul  tells  us  the  natural  man  is  incapable  of. 
How  very  strange  and  unaccountable  it  all  has 
been.  So  things  went  on,  until  all  of  a sudden, 
in  April,  his  father  turned  up  in  Jerusalem  (he  is 
one  of  the  chief  sheikhs  there).  Then  came  the 
trial  to  which  he  and  we  had  always  looked  for- 
ward with  dread.  It  was  a strange  time.  No 
less  than  a fortnight  did  it  last,  and  the  pro- 
longed strain  was  very  trying  for  the  boy — he 
is  really  little  more,  only  twenty-two  years  of 
age. 

“We  decided  that  he  must  leave  the  country 
for  a while,  and,  as  Mr.  Thornton  was  leaving 
Egypt  for  England,  it  seemed  best  (in  spite  of 
very  obvious  objections)  that  he  should  go,  too. 
The  final  interview  came,  and  the  son  wrote  to 
him  refusing  once  more  to  change.  The  father 
left,  and  then  the  poor  fellow  completely  broke 
down.  ...  At  last  came  the  last  day — a Sunday — 
and  lo!  a message  from  Lord  Cromer,  urgently 
desiring  our  presence.  He  was  much  disturbed. 
The  father  had  been  to  him,  and  this  and  the 


-RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  199 


fanatical  state  of  Cairo  owing  to  the  Taba  fron- 
tier incident  were  making  him  anxious.  He  said 
that  Bulus  must  meet  his  father  in  his  (Lord 
Cromer’s)  presence,  and  sign  a paper  saying 
what  he  wanted  to  do,  and  with  whom  he  wished 
to  go.  Bulus  looked  forward  to  this  interview 
with  the  utmost  dread  and  apprehension.  I read 
to  him  verses  of  the  119th  Psalm,  and  he  was 
amazed  at  the  appropriateness  of  the  Word  of 
God.  At  nine  o’clock  he  had  to  go  to  the  Resi- 
dency with  Mr.  Thornton.  I had  to  go  to  church, 
as  it  was  our  Communion  Sunday — it  seemed  sad 
that  Bulus  should  be  prevented  from  coming  to 
church  his  last  day,  for  they  were  to  travel  that 
evening;  but  so  it  had  to  be.  I told  the  congre- 
gation briefly  about  it,  and  requested  prayer  for 
him  then  and  there.  When  the  people  went  out  be- 
fore the  ‘ Ye  that  do  truly,’  I lifted  up  my  eyes  and 
there  was  Bulus,  radiant ! I knew  that  the  dreaded 
interview  had  passed,  and  passed  easily  and 
briefly.  After  church  we  heard  how  it  had  all 
gone — the  father  had  not  turned  up;  Bulus  had 
been  questioned  by  a Moslem  before  Lord 
Cromer,  and  stood  firm.  While  the  questioning 
was  going  on,  the  Prime  Minister — Mustapha 
Pasha — and  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs — 
Butrus  Pasha — entered,  and  they  both  witnessed 
the  confession,  one  the  highest  Moslem  in  the 
land,  and  the  other  the  highest  Copt.  So  the 


200  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


word  had  come  to  him,  ‘ I will  speak  of  thy  testi- 
monies before  kings,  and  will  not  be  ashamed.’  ” 

At  the  beginning  of  1907  we  find  the  Society 
reporting  stations  at  Heluan  and  at  four  points  in 
or  near  Cairo.  It  has  some  25  English  mission- 
aries in  Egypt  proper  and  31  native  lay  teachers. 
There  are  134  baptised  members  and  61  com- 
municants; seven  schools  reporting  400  pupils. 
The  native  contributions  (free-will,  not  fees  or 
tuition)  amount  to  ninety-five  dollars. 

OTHER  MISSIONS 

The  presence  and  work  of  several  other  mis- 
sions may  be  briefly  referred  to. 

The  North  African  Mission  is  a British  mis- 
sionary agency.  It  is  undenominational.  The 
work  in  Egypt  was  begun  in  1892.  Two  stations 
have  been  established,  both  in  the  Delta;  one  in 
Alexandria,  the  other  at  Shebin-el-Kom.  The 
Mission  aims  to  reach  Moslems  in  particular  and 
has  had  the  joy  of  baptising  several. 

The  Egypt  General  Mission  was  established  by 
a group  of  devoted  British  Volunteers  who  went 
to  Egypt  in  1898.  Their  aim  is  not  to  encroach 
upon  the  territory  of  other  missions,  but  simply 
to  supplement  their  work.  In  the  beginning  their 
policy  was  to  avoid  all  missionary  machinery  and 
to  depend  upon  personal  contact  with  men  for  a 
direct  presentation  of  Gospel  truth.  They  have 


.RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  201 


been  compelled  by  the  determining  influence  of 
religious  conditions  in  Egypt  to  modify  their 
policy.  Schools  and  book  depots  have  been 
opened  by  them  at  six  main  stations,  all  in  Lower 
Egypt,  and  some  successful  work  has  been  done 
among  Moslems. 

The  Sudan  Pioneer  Mission  is  a German  Mis- 
sion, begun  in  1901.  Its  aim  is  to  carry  the  Gos- 
pel into  the  Sudan.  Pending  the  opening  of  the 
Sudan  its  missionaries  located  at  Assuan,  began 
the  study  of  the  language,  and  have  worked 
among  the  Bisharin  Arabs  and  the  Nubians.  The 
Mission  has  not  been  able,  for  lack  of  funds,  to 
extend  its  work. 

INSTITUTIONS  AND  SPECIAL  WORK 

A number  of  organisations  or  individuals  have 
laboured  in  Egypt  for  the  uplifting  of  the  people, 
and  these  may  be  grouped  together  because  they 
use  some  special  method  or  limit  their  operations 
to  some  special  locality  or  institution. 

The  Established  Church  of  Scotland  began 
educational  work  for  Jews  in  Alexandria,  in 
1858,  and  this  work  has  been  maintained  unin- 
terruptedly during  the  past  five  decades.  Services 
are  also  conducted,  but  not  in  Arabic. 

In  1858,  Miss  M.  L.  Whately,  daughter  of  the 
famous  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  first  visited  Egypt. 


202  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


A few  years  later  she  opened  a school  for  girls 
in  Cairo,  and,  still  later,  a school  for  boys  and  a 
medical  mission.  Miss  Whately  also  itinerated 
among  the  villages.  The  graphic  pictures  of 
Egyptian  life  which  appear  in  her  books  “Among 
the  Huts  in  Egypt  ” and  “ Ragged  Life  in 
Egypt,”  written  for  young  people,  are  most  read- 
able and  gave  a wide  publicity  to  her  work. 
Her  best-known  work  was  her  school  for  girls  in 
the  Faggaleh  quarter  of  Cairo.  In  1889,  Miss 
Whately  died,  and  this  school  soon  came  under 
the  care  of  the  American  Mission,  under  whose 
auspices  it  is  still  maintained. 

The  Dutch  Mission  at  Galiub  was  founded  in 
1866.  It  consists  chiefly  of  an  Orphanage,  al- 
though a native  congregation  of  about  thirty 
members  has  also  developed. 

The  Nile  Mission  Press  is  an  agency  for  print- 
ing Christian  literature  in  Arabic.  It  owes  its 
existence,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  to  Miss 
Annie  Van  Sommer,  of  England,  and  its  useful- 
ness will  be  undoubtedly  large  in  a Moslem  coun- 
try where  the  printed  page  is  perhaps  the  best 
evangelising  agency. 

In  Port  Said  we  find  the  Peniel  American 
Mission  and  the  Bethel  Orphanage,  both  doing 
work  among  children. 

There  are  a number  of  homes  and  hostels,  such 
as  the  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association 


RECENT  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  203 

and  other  organisations,  at  both  Cairo  and  Alex- 
andria, but  these  minister,  for  the  most  part,  to 
the  foreign  population  of  Egypt.  No  effort  has 
been  made  to  describe  or  enumerate  such  insti- 
tutions or  the  several  congregations  and  churches 
whose  ministry  is  to  others  than  to  Egyptians. 


VI 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 

The  Christian  missionary  movement  in 
the  world  must  necessarily  be  as  broad  as 
the  faith  which  it  promotes.  Since  Chris- 
tianity is  as  broad  as  life,  the  establishment  of 
Christianity  in  any  land  makes  it  necessary  to 
take  account  not  only  of  the  religious  conditions 
of  a country,  but  also  of  its  political,  social,  intel- 
lectual, and  material  conditions.  Having  traced, 
in  outline  at  least,  the  early  Christian  movement 
in  Egypt,  its  deterioration  and  its  displacement 
by  Islam,  and  having  taken  account  of  both  the 
continuous  and  the  interrupted  Christian  mis- 
sionary efforts  of  the  past  century  and  a half, 
we  are  prepared  to  look  conditions  in  Egypt  in 
the  face  and  consider  the  present  outlook  as  it 
stands  related  to  the  evangelisation  and  Chris- 
tianisation  of  the  land. 

POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 

Alfred  Milner  has  pointed  out  in  his  “ England 
in  Egypt  ” the  anomalous  political  situation  which 


204 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 


205 


obtains  in  Egypt  to-day.  Egypt  is  a part  of  the 
Turkish  Empire  and  subject  to  the  Sultan;  wit- 
ness the  three  and  a half  million  dollars  of  an- 
nual tribute  sent  to  Constantinople!  The  Khe- 
dive is  nominally  an  independent  sovereign  and 
Egypt  is  his  kingdom;  witness  the  firmans  of  the 
Sultan!  Egypt  is  also  subject  to  the  control  of 
the  Powers;  witness  the  six  European  Powers 
whose  representatives  interfere  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  financial  affairs;  witness  also  the  four- 
teen Powers  that  hold  treaty  privileges  in  Egypt, 
such  as  no  sovereign  state  would  tolerate!  But 
everybody  knows, — and  this  is  the  truth, — that 
Egypt  is  subject  to  Great  Britain;  witness  these 
British  troops  and  British  heads  of  government 
departments.  The  sceptre  of  power  is  to  be 
found  at  the  British  Agency. 

Two  decades  and  a half  of  British  occupation 
have  passed,  and,  in  spite  of  all  difficulties,  Brit- 
ish administration  has  proved  in  Egypt,  as  in  so 
many  other  lands,  the  truth  of  Lord  Rosebery’s 
statement,  that  the  British  Empire  is  “ the 
greatest  secular  agency  for  good  known  in  the 
world.” 

To  compare  the  Egypt  of  1883  with  the  Egypt 
of  to-day  is  to  reveal  some  startling  contrasts,  and 
these  contrasts  are  the  glory  of  Great  Britain. 
The  national  debt — the  greatest  peril  of  Egypt  in 
1883 — has  been  reduced  by  $43,715,000,  and  has 


2o6  in  the  valley  OF  THE  NILE 


become,  considering  the  country’s  income,  a 
negligible  quantity.  The  interest  charges  which 
the  country’s  revenue  must  meet  annually  are 
$4,450,000  less  than  when  British  administra- 
tion came  into  effect.  The  government  revenue, 
on  the  other  hand,  has  been  advanced  from  $45,- 
000,000,  in  1883,  to  $74,000,000,  in  1905.  Im- 
ports have  advanced  from  $41,000,000  to  over 
$120,000,000;  exports  from  $49,000,000  to  over 
$124,000,000.  The  dreaded  Corvee,  or  forced 
labour,  has  been  abolished;  so,  too,  the  octroi 
duties  in  towns,  bridge  taxes  against  boats,  fish- 
ermen’s taxes,  while  both  land  tax  and  salt  tax 
have  been  reduced. 

The  Department  of  Justice  also  has  been  re- 
formed. The  average  case  is  put  through  the  dis- 
trict court  to-day  in  71  days,  as  against  230  days 
required  by  the  old  regime.  Education  has  ad- 
vanced, and  both  schools  and  the  attendance  upon 
them  have  gone  forward  by  leaps  and  bounds. 
Figures  are  not  available  for  a full  comparison, 
but  in  government  schools  alone  the  attendance 
has  doubled  in  fifteen  years. 

Land — the  gold  dust  of  the  Nile  Valley — has 
advanced  in  value,  so  that  Upper  Egypt  land  that 
sold  for  $80  or  less  an  acre  sells  how  for  $300, 
or  more;  and  Delta  farming  land  that  sold  for 
$350  an  acre  now  is  hard  to  get  at  $700  an  acre. 
Add  to  this  the  fact  that  the  cultivable  area  of 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 


207 


the  country  has  increased  12  per  cent,  through 
irrigation  works  promoted  by  British  adminis- 
tration. 

The  fellah,  who  used  to  get  from  one  to  two 
piastres  per  day,  now  gets  three  to  five;  the 
mason  or  carpenter  gets  ten  to  twenty  piastres 
a day,  instead  of  five  to  eight  as  formerly;  meat 
which  formerly  sold  for  one  and  a half  to  two 
piastres  a pound  now  brings  three  to  three  and 
a half  piastres;  butter-oil  was  formerly  two  and 
a half  to  three  piastres  a pound,  while  now  it  is 
five;  the  official  rate  of  interest  on  borrowed 
money  has  dropped  from  12  to  6 per  cent.,  and 
while  the  fellah  used  to  pay  50  per  cent,  to  60 
per  cent,  on  money  he  would  borrow,  he  need 
now  pay  only  9 per  cent,  to  12  per  cent. 

This  is  a day  of  material  prosperity  in  the 
Nile  Valley  such  as  Egypt  has  not  known, 
perhaps  not  since  the  days  of  the  early 
Ptolemies. 

For  all  this,  certainly  for  most  of  it,  credit  is 
to  be  given  to  British  administration,  and  British 
administration,  during  the  past  twenty  odd  years, 
has  meant  Lord  Cromer. 

The  missionary  must  and  does  rejoice  in  the 
material  welfare  of  the  nation.  He  must  and 
does  recognise  that  grinding  poverty  is  an  es- 
sential hindrance  to  the  Gospel.  He  cannot  but 
rejoice  in  deliverance  from  flagrant  miscarriage 


2o8  in  the  valley  OF  THE  NILE 


of  justice,  open  abuse  of  official  power,  insecure 
rights  to  property,  and  general  instability  of  gov- 
ernment. It  is  a significant  fact,  too,  that  upon 
Lord  Cromer’s  resignation  of  office  no  party  en- 
tertained toward  him  warmer  feelings  of  grati- 
tude than  did  the  missionary  and  evangelical 
community  of  Egypt. 

Yet  the  British  policy  in  the  Nile  Valley  is  open 
to  criticism.  Few,  if  any,  would  deny  that  this 
policy  has  been  pro-Moslem.  A Moslem  monthly 
magazine,  the  Arafate,  in  an  article  on  the  Brit- 
ish government  of  Egypt,  says,  and  says  seri- 
ously : “ Soon  the  Moslems  of  Egypt,  of  the 
Hejaz,  of  Yemen,  of  Syria,  of  Persia,  of  Algeria, 
and  even  of  Constantinople,  will  not  wish  other 
than  to  be  under  this  government  which  hitherto 
has  shown  itself  determined  to  put  the  law  of 
the  Koran  into  force.  Who  knows?  It  will 
perhaps  be  the  glory  of  Lord  Cromer  ...  to 
resurrect  Moslem  law  which  the  majority  of  our 
leaders  declare,  without  blinking,  to  be  utterly 
out  of  date.” 

Thus  we  find  native  Christians  arbitrarily  ex- 
cluded from  several  departments  of  government 
service,  although  qualifying  for  them.  Native 
commissioned  officers  are  exclusively  Moslem. 
It  is  said  that  even  in  the  days  of  Isma’il  more 
Christians  were  permitted  advancement  to  the 
position  of  omdeh  of  towns  and  villages  than 


- THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  209 

to-day.  In  spite  of  superior  work  in  government 
examinations,  native  Christians  must  give  prece- 
dence to  Moslem  candidates. 

Permission  to  observe  the  Christian  Sabbath  is 
still  a privilege  denied  those  in  government  em- 
ployment. Central  and  provincial  government 
offices  compel  their  Christian  scribes  to  labour 
on  that  day.  So  is  it  with  all  those  in  the  offices 
of  the  Board  of  Health  or  the  Customs,  in  Court 
or  Police  Service,  in  the  departments  of  Public 
Works,  in  government  schools,  primary,  second- 
ary, or  professional.  As  a result,  innumerable 
business  occupations  also  call  for  a breach  of  the 
Fourth  Commandment,  since  lawyers  and  wit- 
nesses, . engineers,  tradesmen,  merchants,  and 
shippers,  are  all  forced  to  labour  on  the  Christian 
Sabbath,  because  of  the  relations  which  their 
professions  and  callings  sustain  to  government 
works. 

The  contention  becomes  more  one-sided  when 
the  fact  is  pointed  out  that  Islam  does  not  call 
for  a day  of  rest  throughout  Friday,  but  only 
for  noonday  prayers.  “ When  ye  are  called  to 
prayer,’’  says  the  Koran,  ‘‘  on  the  day  of  as- 
sembly (Friday),  hasten  to  the  commemoration 
of  God,  and  leave  merchandising  . . . and  when 
prayer  is  ended,  then  disperse  yourselves  through 
the  land  as  ye  list  and  seek  gain  of  the  liberality 
of  God.”  The  most  devout  Mohammedans  would 


210  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


not  regard  it  as  an  act  of  disobedience,  therefore, 
for  them  to  work  on  Friday. 

Although  these  limitations  upon  liberty  of  con- 
science have  been  pointed  out  to  the  government, 
as  yet  no  relief  has  come.  On  the  contrary,  the 
British  policy  in  Egypt  has  been  defended,  and 
the  defence  offered  is  this : “ Egypt  is  a Moham- 
medan country;  nine-tenths  of  the  population 
are  Moslems;  therefore,  the  government  should 
be  in  the  interests  of  the  majority.”  But  there 
is  false  reasoning  in  this  defence.  The  question 
of  religion  is  a gratuitous  one.  The  government 
of  Egypt  should  be  for  Egyptians — whether 
Moslems,  Copts,  or  Protestants,  matters  not, — 
and  the  Christians,  forsooth,  are  as  much  Egyp- 
tians as  the  Moslems  — more  so,  if  history  be 
examined. 

Aside  from  the  question  of  simple  justice,  there 
is  an  additional  argument  of  policy.  British  ad- 
ministration in  Egypt,  by  its  partiality  to  Islam, 
has  produced  unfortunate  results.  It  has  devel- 
oped in  Moslem  ranks  a spirit  of  pride,  which 
leads  the  Moslem  to  believe  that  his  religion 
makes  him  essentially  superior  to  a Christian. 
It  has  given  force  to  the  epithet  “ Infidel  ” which 
the  Moslem  world  has  so  long  flung  at  the  Chris- 
tian: “Infidel” — unfaithful,  to  Christian  tradi- 
tion and  teaching,  to  Christian  institutions  and 
practices;  worse,  without  faith,  for  thus  it  is 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 


2II 


that  the  Moslem  interprets  the  excess  of  partiality 
of  a Christian  government  to  Islam.  The  situa- 
tion is  almost  parallel  to  the  situation  in  India 
before  the  Mutiny.  There,  the  compromises 
which  the  government  made,  only  aroused  reli- 
gious suspicion.  For  the  Moslem  can  under- 
stand a man  who  has  a different  religion  and 
stands  by  his  convictions ; but  the  Moslem  cannot 
understand  the  man  who  has  no  religion,  or, 
having  one,  fails  to  openly  avow  it.  Ulterior 
motives  are  naturally  imputed.  In  India,  it  re- 
quired a Sepoy  Mutiny  to  correct  the  evil  and 
lead  the  British  Government  to  declare  itself  a 
Christian  government.  Will  it  require  such  an 
experience  to  restrain  this  growing  spirit  of  Mos- 
lem intolerance  in  Egypt  and  to  lead  Great 
Britain  to  come  out  into  an  open  declaration  of 
her  own  convictions,  although  exercising  every 
toleration  toward  her  subjects  in  their  different 
faiths? 

In  recent  years  a new  phrase  has  appeared  in 
print  and  is  heard  in  popular  speech  in  Egypt.  It 
is  “ Political  Party.”  Even  to-day  it  is  scarcely 
more  than  a phrase.  A Legislative  Council, 
which  is  only  an  advisory  body,  and  a General 
Assembly  with  only  a veto  power  in  reference 
to  taxation,  are  the  foci  of  the  ellipse  which 
marks  the  movement  of  self-government  in 
Egypt.  The  figure  is  well  chosen,  for  there  is 


212  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


much  wandering  off  into  space,  and  it  must  needs 
be  a long  time  ere  self-government  comes  within 
the  range  of  Egypt’s  best  interests. 

To  describe  the  political  parties  of  to-day 
would  be  to  fix  in  the  changing  calendar  of 
Egyptian  politics,  irrevocably,  the  date  of  this 
survey.  Rabid  journals,  such  as  the  Lewa  and 
the  Moayyad,  vie  with  each  other  in  a denuncia- 
tion of  everything  British,  and  seek  thus  to  rep- 
resent the  two  wings  of  a so-called  National 
movement.  A better  element  is  represented  by 
the  Watan.  Its  sober  and  judicious  utterances 
find  acceptance  among  both  Christian  and  Mos- 
lem readers,  and  even  among  Moslem  readers 
who  are  prevented  by  the  solidarity  of  Islam 
from  identifying  themselves  with  anything  that 
is  not  avowedly  Islamic. 

From  a political  point  of  view,  then,  Christian 
Missions  in  Egypt  find  help  and  hindrance  in 
British  rule.  Help,  in  the  uplift  of  the  people 
out  of  poverty,  in  intellectual  quickening,  in  the 
safeguarding  of  life  and  property,  and,  above  all, 
in  a secure  government.  Hindrance,  in  the  pre- 
occupation of  men’s  minds  with  material  gain, 
in  the  increased  cost  of  all  missionary  operations, 
in  the  inconsistencies  of  a Christian  government, 
and  in  the  reproaches  of  Western  vice. 

Not  for  a moment  could  those  who  consider 
Eg}^pt’s  interests  advocate  a return  to  former 


THE  PRESENT*  OUTLOOK 


213 


political  conditions.  Rather  do  we  believe  that 
the  present  political  conditions  are  appointed  of 
God,  as  scaffolding  for  building,  to  promote 
God's  great  redemptive  purpose  for  Egypt. 

SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

The  question  arises  whether  missionary  work 
or  other  influences  have  brought  about  any 
changes  in  the  social  life  of  Egypt. 

De  Guerville,  in  his  recent  book,  “ New  Egypt," 
reports  the  following  interview  with  his  High- 
ness, the  Khedive : 

“ Sir,"  I asked,  “ this  custom  which  you  have 
set  aside,  of  having  several  legitimate  wives  and 
numerous  concubines  and  slaves,  is  it  still  general 
in  Egypt  ? " 

“ No,"  he  replied,  “ and  you  will  find,  espe- 
cially in  the  upper  and  middle  classes,  that  the 
custom  of  having,  several  wives  is  disappearing 
rapidly.  The  principal  reasons  for  this  change 
are,  first  of  all,  the  abolition  of  slavery,  which 
makes  it  more  difficult  to  obtain  wives;  and, 
secondly,  the  enormous  increase  in  the  cost  of 
living.  . . ." 

“ In  a word,  sir,  it  is  economy  and  not  virtue 
that  has  led  to  the  change  ? " 

“ How  you  talk ! " cried  His  Highness.  ‘‘  Vir- 
tue? But,  my  dear  fellow,  we  must  first  of  all 
define  virtue.  . . 


214  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 

The  measure  of  change  indicated  by  this  con- 
versation may  be  admitted  as  having  taken  place 
in  the  social  life  of  Egypt,  but  it  is  a superficial 
change  and  means  nothing.  The  standards  of 
life  remain  unchanged.  Make  former  condi- 
tions possible  and  polygamy  would  flourish  again. 
Beyond  this  lies  the  deeper  criticism  that  a large 
harem  has  never  been  so  much  the  curse  of  Mos- 
lem social  life  as  the  easy  and  constant  divorcing 
of  wives.  It  was  some  decades  ago  that  E.  W. 
Lane  wrote : “ There  are  many  men  in  this  coun- 
try who,  in  the  course  of  ten  years,  have  married 
as  many  as  twenty,  thirty,  or  more  wives;  and 
women  not  far  advanced  in  age  who  have  been 
wives  to  a dozen  or  more  men  successively.” 
Neither  does  an  altogether  modern  estimate  of 
conditions  encourage  the  belief  that  much  im- 
provement has  been  made  in  recent  years.  “ A 
prominent  Moslem  has  said,  in  conversation,  that 
not  more  than  five  per  cent,  of  Mohammedans  in 
Egypt  retain  the  first  wife  to  the  day  of  her 
death.” 

From  two  directions,  however,  influences  are 
working  for  the  uplift  of  Egyptian  womanhood. 
First,  from  the  direction  of  education.  There 
are  to-day  in  the  government,  mission,  and  pri- 
vate schools  which  come  within  the  scope  of  reg- 
ular government  reports,  some  11,112  girls  of 
Eg}’ptian  nationality.  Even  the  ^loslem  Kiittahs 


PRESSLY  MEMORIAL  INSTITUTE,  ASSIUT 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 


215 


(primary  schools)  show  some  improvement  in 
female  education,  for,  while  in  1895  only  139 
girls  are  reported  in  attendance,  in  1906  we  find 
12,839.  These  figures  are  trifling  in  the  face  of 
a population  of  eleven  million  souls,  but  they 
point  to  an  improved  sentiment  relative  to  the 
position  of  women. 

The  second  influence  for  good  is  missionary 
work.  Christian  standards  presented  by  mis- 
sionary, evangelist,  school  teacher,  harem  worker, 
and  printed  literature,  but  above  all  by  the  actual, 
home  and  social  life  of  the  missionary  and  native 
evangelical  community,  are  doing  much  toward 
creating  sentiment  favourable  to  the  uplift  of 
Egyptian  womanhood. 

ISLAM  IN  EGYPT 

Islam  is  a religious  faith,  a social  system,  and 
a political  power.  Some  consideration  has  al- 
ready been  given  to  the  last  two  aspects  of  Islam. 
There  remains  the  consideration  of  it  as  a reli- 
gious system  in  the  Nile  Valley  to-day. 

A common  habit  is  to  regard  the  Moslem  world 
as  a fixed  and  invariable  quantity;  a world  whose 
character  is  unaffected  by  outside  influences,  and 
which  undergoes  no  change.  It  would  be  folly 
to  underestimate  the  conservative  character  of 
Islam.  It  is  perhaps  the  most  unyielding  reli- 


2i6  in  the  valley  OF  THE  NILE 


gious  system  Christianity  has  had  to  face.  The 
reasons  for  this  are  not  hard  to  find. 

Dr.  Weitbrecht  has  pointed  out  the  inability 
of  Islam  in  India  to  effect  a reconstruction  of 
itself  adequate  to  enable  it  to  meet  the  pressure 
of  Christian  truth,  scientific  thought,  and  West- 
ern civilisation.  The  reasons  for  this  rigidity  of 
Islam,  Dr.  Weitbrecht  finds  in  the  limitations  of 
its  historic  sense,  its  ethical  character,  and  its 
conception  of  God.  These  are  characteristics  of 
Islam  everywhere,  and  help  to  explain,  from 
an  inner  point  of  view,  the  inflexibility  of 
Mohammedanism. 

Another  partial  explanation  lies  in  the  fact  that 
by  its  threefold  claim,  to  be  a religion,  a life,  and 
a government,  Islam  has  succeeded  in  shutting 
out  all  subversive  influences.  Its  religious  truths, 
its  social  system,  its  political  power — all  three, 
by  turn  or  simultaneously,  have  lent  strength  to 
its  sovereign  position  in  the  lives  of  its  mem- 
bers. While  Islam  has  recently  been  shorn  of  its 
political  power  in  Egypt  and  elsewhere,  yet  it  is 
to  be  remembered  that  the  dominance  of  a West- 
ern power — especially  that  of  England,  as  we 
have  seen  in  a former  section — has  not  entailed 
hardship  or  persecution  or  even  pressure  upon 
Moslems,  such  as  would  tend  to  weaken  the 
hold  of  Islam  upon  them.  They  have  been  per- 
mitted, if  not  encouraged,  to  hold  fast  to  their 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 


217 


former  faith.  Contrast  the  benign  rule  of  Great 
Britain  over  Moslems  in  Egypt  with  the  influ- 
ences of  Moslem  rule,  which  subverted,  in  the 
Nile  Valley,  rather  must  we  say,  obliterated 
by  sheer  force,  a whole  Christian  commu- 
nity ! 

In  spite  of  the  traditional  opinion  as  to  the 
inflexibility  of  Islam,  there  is  ground  for  believ- 
ing that  this  faith  is  being  influenced  and  affected 
in  Egypt  by  contact  with  the  West.  Just  recently 
has  come  the  news  of  the  laying  of  the  corner- 
stone of  the  station  of  the  new  Hejaz  Railway,  at 
Medina  (!!).  Equally  recent  is  the  proposal  to 
hold  at  Cairo  a Pan-Islamic  Congress  to  consider 
the  reform  of  Islamic  institutions.  Constantino- 
ple is  named  as  a rival  place  of  meeting,  but  Cairo 
has  the  preference  because  there,  under  British 
protection,  a Moslem  Congress  would  enjoy 
greater  freedom  of  speech  than  under  Turkish 
rule ! This  proposal  for  a Pan-Islamic  Con- 
gress is  significant,  for  only  recently  has  it  come 
to  light  that  a secret  meeting  was  held  at  Mecca 
in  1899,  to  consider  the  decay  of  Islam. 

The  awakening  in  the  Moslem  world  may 
move  in  several  directions.  It  may  seek  to  create 
a Pan-Islamic  movement  to  combine  Moslems 
throughout  the  world  to  defy  and  resist  the 
Christian  Powers.”  Edward  Dicey,  in  his  ''  The 
Egypt  of  the  Future,”  believes  in  this  possible 


2i8  in  the  valley  OF  THE  NILE 


revival  of  a militant  Islam.  He  points  out  that 
there  has  been  among  Moslems  a conviction 
“ that  for  some  inscrutable  reason  it  was  the  will 
of  Allah  that  unbelievers  should  gain  the  upper 
hand  for  the  time  being.”  But  he  tells  us  that 
the  defeat  of  Russia  by  Japan  shook  the  Mos- 
lem world  out  of  its  apathy  and  gave  birth  to 
a widespread  belief  ‘‘  that  the  tide  had  turned  at 
last  and  that  the  time  was  at  hand  when  Islam 
might  resume  her  career  of  conquest  and  might 
fulfil  her  mission  of  exterminating  all  unbelievers, 
no  matter  what  creed  they  may  profess.”  Lord 
Cromer,  in  his  last  report  upon  Egypt  before  his 
retirement,  also  speaks  of  such  a movement  and 
mercilessly  exposes  its  true  character.  He  reas- 
suringly adds,  however,  “ If  such  are  their  wishes 
and  intentions,  I entertain  very  little  doubt  that 
they  will  find  them  impossible  of  execution.” 
Another  direction  in  which  the  awakening  may 
carry  Islam  is  toward  rationalism.  Egypt  is  but 
three  or  four  days’  journey  from  France.  For 
years  there  has  been  a steady  emigration  of  the 
wealthy  youth  of  Egypt  to  France  for  purposes 
of  education.  Becoming  acquainted  there  with 
rationalistic  philosophy  and  tinged  with  atheistic 
views,  made  to  recognise  also  the  power  of  scien- 
tific thought,  these  young  men  are  returning  to 
Egypt  to  live  and  to  lead.  Without  disclaiming 
their  allegiance  to  Islam,  they  are  emptying  this 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  219 

monotheistic  faith  of  all  its  historic  content  and 
making  use  of  it  merely  as  a bond  of  union  be- 
tween themselves  and  the  party,  nation,  or  race, 
whose  leadership  they  seek  to  hold. 

Still  another  trend  of  the  Moslem  awakening 
is  that  which  has  had  its  best  exponent  in  the 
late  Grand  Mufti  of  Egypt,  Sheikh  Mohammed 
Abdu.  Standing  at  the  very  heart  of  the  Moslem 
world,  as  the  final  arbiter  and  interpreter  of 
the  law,  it  was  wonderful  what  sympathy  he  dis- 
played with  Western  thought.  He  gave  his  life 
to  the  service  of  Islam,  seeking  to  reform  its 
barren  educational  system,  endeavouring  to 
purify  the  corrupt  Islamic  courts,  and  doing  all 
he  could  to  bring  the  Moslem  world  into  sym- 
pathetic relation  with  the  West. 

The  missionary  in  Egypt  cannot  fail  to  rec- 
ognise a marked  rapprochement  when  he  recalls 
the  arrogant  disdain  with  which  Moslems  of 
former  years  regarded  the  Christian  faith.  Meet- 
ings for  religious  discussion  are  now  possible, 
which  would  have  been  occasions  for  riots,  if  per- 
mitted at  all,  two  decades  ago.  More  Bibles  are 
sold  to-day  to  Moslems  in  Egypt  than  ever  be- 
fore. There  is  an  attitude  of  open-mindedness 
which  contrasts  sharply  with  the  intolerance 
which  once  existed.  The  awakening  of  the  Mos- 
lem world  promises  an  opportunity  for  presenting 
the  Gospel  to  Mohammedans,  such  as  mission- 


220  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


aries  in  the  Nile  Valley  had  almost  despaired 
of  seeing. 

THE  COPTIC  CHURCH 

While  the  Coptic  Church  is  known  in  Chris- 
tendom as  the  Church  of  the  Monophysite  heresy, 
this  question  gives  the  modern  missionary  but 
little  concern.  The  contention  between  the  evan- 
gelical preacher  and  the  Copt  is  that  of  the 
ground  of  salvation:  Is  salvation  of  grace,  or 
is  it  of  works?  By  faith  in  Christ,  or  by  fast- 
ing, confession.  Church  membership,  and  mass? 
The  dominant  feature  in  the  Coptic  system  is 
fasting.  The  regular  seasons  of  fasting  occupy 
more  than  half  the  year.  Fasting,  however,  does 
not  consist  in  total  abstinence  from  all  food  or 
drink,  either  during  the  day  or  during  the  night, 
but  only  avoidance  of  certain  kinds  of  food  or 
drink. 

Next  to  fasting,  Mariolatry  and  Saint-worship 
constitute  a line  of  cleavage  between  the  Coptic 
Church  and  the  Evangelicals,  or  Protestants,  in 
Egypt.  While  the  Coptic  churches  have  no 
images,  they  do  permit  pictures.  The  ignorance 
of  priests  and  people,  together  with  the  empty  and 
meaningless  rites  of  a church  service  conducted 
in  the  dead  Coptic  language,  are  the  subjects 
which  follow  next  in  practical  discussions  be- 
tween Copts  and  Protestants. 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 


22X 


Other  facts  may  also  be  noted  here.  The  Copts 
use  immersion  as  the  form  of  baptism,  but  prac- 
tise infant  baptism.  Transubstantiation  is  the 
universal  belief;  fasting  the  most  important  duty. 
The  orders  of  their  Church  are,  the  Patriarch, 
the  Metropolitans,  the  bishops,  the  priests,  and 
the  deacons.  The  name  Copt  is  simply  the  per- 
verted pronunciation,  handed  down  through  cen- 
turies, of  the  Greek  “ Aiguptos.” 

Looking  forward  to  the  triumph  of  a pure 
Gospel  among  the  Copts  of  Egypt,  there  are  two 
ways  in  which  this  may  come  about.  One  is 
by  the  complete  disintegration  of  this  ancient 
historic  Church  and  the  gathering  of  its  spirit- 
ually renewed  members  into  the  Evangelical 
Church— either  Presbyterian  or  Episcopal.  The 
other  is  for  the  Coptic  Church  to  experience  a 
vital  reform,  such  as  will  purge  it  of  its  dead 
formality  and  impart  to  it  both  spiritual  truth 
and  spiritual  quickening.  It  is  impossible  at 
this  stage  to  even  venture  an  opinion  as  to  the 
future.  Meanwhile  the  process  of  disintegra- 
tion goes  on,  as  members  of  that  Church  receive 
spiritual  quickening,  and,  unable  to  find  spiritual 
nurture  in  the  Church  of  their  birth,  unite  with 
the  Evangelical  Church. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Coptic  Church  has  felt 
the  pressure  upon  her,  calling  for  reforms. 
Some  reforms  have  been  instituted,  but  these 


222  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


relate  almost  entirely  to  educational  matters  or 
matters  of  Church  administration.  Schools  have 
been  multiplied,  often  through  sheer  rivalry  with 
Protestant  schools.  In  contrast  with  the  patri- 
archal absolutism  of  former  days,  a Council  of 
priests  has  recently  been  instituted,  to  meet  under 
the  presidency  of  the  Patriarch  to  discuss  mat- 
ters of  interest  to  the  priesthood.  The  Patri- 
arch also  occasionally  calls  together  the  metro- 
politans and  bishops  for  conference  about  mat- 
ters of  vital  interest  to  the  Church.  Reforms 
in  the  administration  of  Church  and  School 
Funds  have  also  been  instituted. 

The  most  hopeful  sign  is  the  increasing  ac- 
quaintance of  the  people  with  the  Scriptures  and 
a demand  made  by  them  in  many  places  to  have 
preaching  in  Arabic.  Until  recently  they  had 
been  satisfied  with  the  Coptic  ritual  and  the 
reading  of  some  sermon,  written  by  Chrysos- 
tom or  by  some  other  preacher  of  the  early 
cenfuries. 

The  most  deplorable  feature  of  the  Coptic 
Church  relates  to  her  life  and  moral  standards. 
The  following  statement  is  at  hand  from  a na- 
tive Egyptian,  who  originally  was  a member  of 
the  Coptic  Church,  and  has  since  laboured  among 
Copts  for  several  decades,  and  who  by  his  rela- 
tionships, experience,  and  observation  is  abun- 
dantly qualified  to  speak  with  authority : 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 


223 


“ The  Coptic  Church  does  not  use  discipline 
against  those  who  violate  God’s  moral  law,  and, 
for  this  reason,  the  morals  of  the  Copts  are  not 
much  higher  than  those  of  the  Moslems.  I have 
never,  in  my  life,  seen  or  heard  of  a man  being  ' 
suspended  or  excommunicated  for  swearing,  ly- 
ing, drunkenness,  or  adultery.  Such  discipline 
has  been  used  only  against  those  who  left  the 
Coptic  Church  and  became  Protestants.  All  that 
is  necessary  for  any  sinner  to  do — whatever  may 
be  his  private  or  public  sin — is  to  confess  these 
sins  to  the  priest  and  he  will  be  entitled  at  once 
to  partake  of  Christ’s  body  and  blood.  One  can 
easily  see  that  breaking  the  Sabbath,  profane 
swearing,  lying,  and  drinking  are  regarded  by 
the  majority  of  the  sect  as  if  they  were  not  sins 
at  all ; and  the  heinous  sins,  such  as  adultery  and 
stealing,  etc.,  are  sins  which,  through  confession 
to  the  priests,  will  soon  be  forgiven.  Yet  the 
spread  of  the  Evangelical  teachings  among  many 
of  them  has  led  some  of  those  still  in  communion 
with  their  ancient  Church  to  regard  sin  in  its 
true  light,  and  to  try  to  live  a better  life. 

“Of  course,  many  Copts  have  discarded  some 
of  the  errors  of  their  Church,  such  as  fastings, 
confessions  to  the  priests,  bowing  before  the  pic- 
tures of  the  saints,  etc.,  but  nothing  that  could 
be  called  a reformation  has  taken  place  within 
the  Church,  in  these  respects.  The  priests,  from 


224  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 

the  Patriarch  down  to  the  least  of  the  holy  orders, 
are  against  any  change  whatever. 

“ The  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church  have 
taken  the  place  of  spirituality  in  worship.  Even 
the  preaching,  that  has  been  permitted  in  some  of 
their  churches  in  recent  days,  does  not  affect  the 
hearts  of  the  hearers.  We  have  not  seen  any 
real  revival  in  any  Coptic  Church,  even  in  those 
which  imitate  Protestants  in  preaching  and 
prayer.’' 

The  judgment  expressed  in  this  extended  quo- 
tation is  supported  by  similar  opinions  and  ob- 
servations recorded  by  many  other  equally  reliable 
judges. 

The  Rev.  Andrew  Watson,  D.D.,  who  has  been 
a missionary  in  Egypt  since  i86i,  writes:  “To 
me  the  outlook  at  present  for  the  spiritual  ref- 
ormation of  the  Coptic  Church  is  much  the  same 
as  the  political  outlook  for  the  reformation  of 
the  Turkish  Empire.” 

If  the  outlook  for  reform  within  the  Coptic 
Church  is  not  bright,  the  invaluable  services  ren- 
dered to  the  missionary  cause  by  those  who  were 
formerly  Copts  and  have  joined  the  Evangelical 
Church  must  not  be  forgotten.  The  purpose  of 
God  in  preserving,  through  the  dark  period  of 
Moslem  domination,  this  remnant  of  His  early 
people  and  Church,  seems  thus  to  have  been  vin- 
dicated in  modern  missionary  work,  and  God 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 


225 


alone  can  tell  what  further  service  this  people, 
if  quickened  and  enlightened,  may  render  to  the 
extension  of  Christ’s  kingdom. 

THE  EVANGELICAL  CHURCH  IN  EGYPT 

Among  the  important  factors  in  the  modern 
missionary  situation  in  the  Nile  Valley  is  the 
Native  Evangelical  Church.  It  is  true  that  this 
Church  was  originally  formed  chiefly  out  of  con- 
verts from,  the  Coptic  Church  and  that  it  has 
been  chiefly  identified  with  a Presbyterian  form 
of  government,  because  its  beginnings  were  laid 
by  missionaries  holding  to  that  form  of  Church 
polity  in  America,  yet,  for  all  that,  this  Church 
is  truly  Egyptian;  it  is  a Native  Church.  With 
a membership  of  ten  thousand  and  a Protestant 
community  of  thirty-five  thousand  souls,  its  influ- 
ence even  far  outreaches  its  numbers.  The  supe- 
rior intelligence,  the  high  moral  standards,  the 
greater  responsiveness  to  Western  ideas,  which 
obtain  in  the  Evangelical  Community  of  Egypt, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  spiritual  power  of  its  life, 
have  made  this  Protestant  Church  and  its  com- 
munity known  and  respected  throughout  the 
entire  country. 

The  Evangelical  Church  in  Egypt,  of  course,  has 
weak  points  and  tendencies,  against  which  she  will 
need  to  guard  herself.  In  the  Orient  especially,  the 
danger  from  formalism  is  great.  There  could 


226  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


be  little  danger  of  formalism  in  days  gone  by, 
when  men  left  a traditional  faith  in  the  face  of 
bitter  persecution  to  become  members  of  a new 
and  despised  Church;  but  that  danger  has  devel- 
oped to-day.  For  the  Protestant  Church  is  re- 
spected to-day,  and  it  is  a mark  of  some  advance- 
ment to  be  reckoned  a Protestant.  The  danger 
is  particularly  great,  also,  that  those  who  have 
been  born  in  the  Church — for  the  Church  has 
come  to  the  second  generation  of  her  existence 
— will  hold  allegiance  to  the  reformed  faith  with 
the  same  formality  with  which  others  hold  to-day 
to  the  false  teachings  and  corrupt  practices  of 
the  Coptic  Church. 

There  is  also  danger  lest  prejudice  against  Islam 
and  against  converts  from  Islam,  should  hinder 
this  Church  from  exercising  her  widest  influence 
among  Moslems.  It  would  be  easy  for  the  hatred 
of  Copt  for  Moslem,  born  of  centuries  of  suf- 
fering from  Moslem  oppression,  to  pass  over  into 
the  Protestant  Church  with  the  large  accessions 
which  this  Church  has  received  from  the  Coptic 
body.  Against  this,  missionaries  and  Church 
leaders  must  set  their  faces  as  flint,  or  the  Evan- 
gelical Church  will  miss  her  true  calling  to  be- 
come a National  Church  for  Egypt. 

The  remarkable  material  prosperity  of  the 
country  and  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  necessarily 
threaten  to  undermine  the  spirituality  and  the 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 


227 


evangelistic  and  missionary  spirit  of  the  Evangeli- 
cal Church.  It  used  to  be  that  every  convert 
carried  a Testament  about  with  him  and  became 
a teacher  of  the  truth  he  accepted.  The  self- 
extending zeal  of  the  Church  must  not  be  allowed 
to  wane,  else  the  missionary  enterprise  will  be 
a hopeless  failure;  for  foreign  agencies,  alone 
or  chiefly,  can  never  accomplish  the  evangeli- 
sation of  Egypt. 

But  the  native  Evangelical  Church  has  ad- 
mirable qualities  which  form  a large  part  of  the 
encouraging  results  of  missions  in  Egypt.  This 
Church  is  devoted  to  the  Scriptures.  To  this  tes- 
tify the  wide  sale  of  the  Scriptures,  the  constant 
appeal  to  the  Word  of  God  for  vindication  and 
proof,  and  the  Scriptural  preaching  of  pastors 
and  evangelists.  This  Church  is  also  devoted  to 
attendance  upon  religious  services.  To  this  wit- 
ness the  records  of  religious  meetings  held  every 
day  for  long  periods  of  time  in  many  places, 
while  it  is  refreshing  to  a Western  visitor  to 
notice  both  the  predominance  of  men  and  the  fact 
that,  usually,  the  attendance  at  church  service  will 
be  twice  as  large  as  a congregation’s  membership. 

This  native  Church  has  also  a pure  worship. 
In  this,  it  commends  Christianity  to  Moslems. 
The  simplicity  of  the  service  and  the  absence 
of  pictures  disabuse  the  Moslem  mind  of  every 
suggestion  of  idolatry  which  he  has  ordinarily 


228  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


associated  with  Christian  worship.  As  in  Syria, 
so  in  Egypt,  Moslems  say,  “If  we  become  Chris- 
tians, we  will  become  Protestants.” 

This  Church  is  also  loyal  to  the  missionaries. 
On  the  whole,  there  has  been  little  friction,  such 
as  has  often  appeared  in  native  Churches  of  other 
fields,  between  the  native  and  foreign  missionary. 
Even  those  who  have  deliberately  tried  to  sow 
dissension  and  schism  have  had  little  success. 
This  is  an  earnest,  for  the  future,  of  many  years 
of  harmonious  and  effective  cooperation  of  for- 
eign and  native  workers  for  the  evangelisation 
of  Egypt. 

There  is  in  the  Church,  also,  a fine  missionary 
or  evangelistic  spirit.  Here  lies  the  secret  of  the 
rapid  growth  of  the  Church  during  the  past  half- 
century.  Every  member  was  a worker.  The 
obligation  to  extend  the  kingdom  by  personal 
work  was  accepted  as  an  inevitable  corollary  to 
the  enjoyment  of  the  privileges  of  salvation.  In 
this  connection,  the  liberality  of  Church  members 
deserves  some  mention.  Again  and  again  have 
lots  been  donated,  or  buildings  been  erected,  by 
prominent  members,  for  schools  and  church  pur- 
poses. Passing  by  all  moneys  paid  in  as  fees 
to  missionary  schools,  hospitals,  and  bookstores, 
and  considering  only  the  contributions  of  the 
Protestants  for  regular  church  purposes,  we  find 
an  aggregate  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  contrib- 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  229 

uted  annually.  Many,  indeed,  tithe  their  incomes. 
Once  thoroughly  fired  with  a zeal  for  carrying 
the  Gospel  to  the  whole  of  Egypt  and  to  the 
Sudan,  this  Church  will  codperate  mightily  with 
the  foreign  forces  in  seeking  to  accomplish  the 
evangelisation  of  Egypt. 

The  intellectual  superiority  of  Protestants  to 
Copts  and  Moslems  has  been  proved  by  statistics. 
This  also  manifests  itself  in  the  life  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Church  in  the  clear  grasp  which  its  mem- 
bers have  of  religious  truth.  Protestantism  en- 
tered Egypt  at  the  point  of  the  sword,  but  it  was 
the  Sword  of  Truth.  Doctrinal  debate  was  the 
atmosphere  in  which  the  young  Church  grew  and 
developed  strength.  The  Evangelical  Church  is, 
therefore,  on  the  whole,  of  a doctrinarian  type. 
To  this,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  she  owes  her 
steadfastness  in  the  midst  of  heretical  tendencies 
and  distorted  teachings;  yet  this  very  character- 
istic suggests  her  need  for  leadership,  that  she 
may  also  develop  symmetrically,  along  lines  of 
practical  Christianity.  It  may  also  help  to  ex- 
plain an  apparent  reluctance  to  encourage  evan- 
gelistic methods,  which,  though  legitimate,  might 
be  carried  to  extremes  of  emotionalism.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  also  true  that  the  Egyptian  reli- 
gious type  is  pietistic.  Not  that  the  Egyptian 
attains  to  the  sublime  religious  rapture  which 
characterises  his  brother  Christian  in  India,  nor 


230  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 

that  he  is  capable  of  such  lofty  philosophic  medi- 
tation; but  he  has  a natural  appreciation  of  that 
piety  which  renounces  the  pleasure  of  this  life 
for  fellowship  with  the  Lord.  There  are,  there- 
fore, pastors,  and  church  members  in  the  Evan- 
gelical Church  who  make  fasting,  not  a means  of 
salvation,  but  a real  means  of  grace  and  spiritual 
quickening. 

This  Evangelical  Church,  with  her  forty  or- 
dained ministers,  her  membership  of  some  ten 
thousand,  her  community  of  about  thirty-five 
thousand,  her  hold  upon  the  truth,  her  liberality, 
her  prestige  and  influence — although,  also,  with 
her  present  imperfections  and  limitations  of  de- 
velopment,— may  well  be  considered  a valuable 
auxiliary  for  the  further  and  final  conquest 
of  the  country  by  an  evangelical  missionary 
movement. 


MISSIONARY  AGENCIES 

One  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  missionary  ef- 
fort have  availed  to  evolve  certain  methods, 
policies,  and  agencies,  which  must  mean  much 
for  missionary  effort  in  the  next  half-century. 

The  early  efforts  of  the  Moravians,  which  ex- 
tended over  thirty  years,  can  scarcely  be  denomi- 
nated a missionary  movement.  At  no  time  did 
the  missionary  force  exceed  three  foreign  work- 
ers. The  political  condition  of  the  country 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  231 

seemed  to  forbid  any  institutional  work.  The 
most  that  could  be  done  was  to  exert  a personal 
influence  upon  individuals  here  and  there.  The 
labours  of  these  unsupported  missionaries  could 
scarcely  be  expected  to  have  established  a per- 
manent work.  Their  efforts  and  sacrifices,  how- 
ever, blazed  the  way  for  later  generations  of 
Christians  to  enter  the  Nile  Valley  and  seek  to 
occupy  it  with  a pure  gospel. 

The  next  missionary  work  in  Egypt — that  of 
the  Church  Missionary  Society, — also  interrupted 
and  abandoned  after  several  decades,  was  not 
barren  of  results.  It  was  a sort  of  military 
reconnaissance  which  served  later  generations  in 
good. stead,  revealing  the  innate  hostility  of  the 
Coptic  Church  to  vital  reform  and  pointing  out 
the  efficacy  of  both  educational  and  literary 
methods  in  influencing  Moslems  as  well  as 
Copts. 

The  next  effort,  that  of  the  Americans,  vin- 
dicated the  policy  of  a Reformed  Church  organ- 
isation, in  dealing  with  the  degraded  Oriental 
Churches,  while  it  has  also  gone  forward  in  the 
development  of  the  leading  missionary  agencies 
— the  educational,  the  evangelistic,  and  the 
medical. 

The  special  contribution  of  the  recent  Church 
Missionary  movement  has  been  to  call  attention 
to  the  need  for  attacking  the  Moslem  problem, 


232  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


not  indirectly,  but  directly,  and  with  specialised 
methods  and  specialising  agents.  To  this  same 
end,  the  Cairo  Conference  of  Workers  among 
Moslems  contributed  greatly.  It  met  at  Cairo, 
April  4 to  9,  1906,  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
Arabian  Mission  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church 
of  North  America.  Sixty-two  representatives 
from  twenty-nine  missionary  societies  in  Europe 
and  America,  together  with  an  equal  number 
of  missionary  visitors,  contributed  their  best 
thought  and  wide  missionary  experience  to  a con- 
sideration of  the  problems  of  Islam.  Their  delib- 
erations fill  two  volumes. 

Viewing  the  mission  fields  of  the  Nile  Valley  at 
the  close  of  this  first  decade  of  the  twentieth 
century,  what  an  unparalleled  opportunity  Egypt 
presents  for  aggressive  missionary  activity ! It  is 
not  adequate  methods  of  work  that  remain  to  be 
devised.  It  is  not  new  agencies  that  need  to  be 
discovered.  It  is  not  suitable  spiritual  weapons 
that  remain  to  be  forged.  These  all  are  at  hand. 
The  need  is  for  the  expansion  and  extension  of 
missionary  operations,  until  these  become  more 
nearly  commensurate  with  the  task  which  is  be- 
fore the  Church  of  Christ — the  entire  and  com- 
plete evangelisation  of  Egypt. 

It  is  almost  unbelievable  that  the  spiritual  need 
of  Egypt  should,  in  this  year  of  grace  and  this 
age  of  missions,  continue  to  be  as  great  as  it  is. 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 


233 


Every  missionary  has,  on  an  average,  a parish 
of  80,000  souls.  With  all  the  progress  of  mis- 
sions, there  are  to-day,  in  Egypt,  to  every  evan- 
gelical Christian,  one  Jew,  about  three  Catholics, 
more  than  26  Copts,  and  369  Moslems — one 
evangelical  Christian  for  every  399  who  are  not. 
It  is  true  that  we  have  with  us  “ the  God  of 
impossibilities,”  and  the  divine  promise  reads. 
Five  of  you  shall  chase  a hundred,  and  a hun- 
dred of  you  shall  chase  ten  thousand.”  But  it  is 
also  true  that  in  the  spiritual  conquest  of  the 
world,  human  agencies  must  bear  some  proper 
relation  to  the  work  which  is  to  be  accomplished, 
and  God  will  not  permit  men  to  make  faith  in 
Him  the  subterfuge  for  spiritual  sloth  and 
selfishness. 

There  is  need  for  Christian  institutions  in  the 
Nile  Valley  to-day:  Christian  schools,  to  take 
advantage  of  the  nation’s  intellectual  awaken- 
ing, and  build  Christian  character  into  the  life 
of  the  rising  generation.  Schools  especially  for 
girls,  that  Egypt’s  womanhood  may  be  redeemed 
from  the  thralldom  of  ignorance,  superstition, 
and  sin,  in  the  generation  to  come  if  not  in  this. 
An  institution  of  higher  learning  which  shall 
rival  its  prototype,  the  Catechetical  School  at 
Alexandria,  in  the  early  days  of  the  Christian  era, 
and  which  shall  capture  and  hold  for  Christ  the 
fortress  of  advanced  learning  in  the  Delta,  as 


234  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


Assiut  College  is  endeavouring  to  do  in  Upper 
Egypt. 

There  is  need  also  for  more  workers.  The 
harem,  with  all  its  rigid  seclusion  laws,  holds  the 
door  open  to  women  missionaries.  For  every 
one,  now  carrying  the  gospel  from  home  to  home, 
ten  could  profitably  be  employed.  There  is  a 
call  for  men — but  they  must  be  men  of  ability. 
Egypt  is  the  last  field  for  the  weak  man  to  choose. 
Men  with  distinct  gifts  for  leadership  are  re- 
quired. Men  with  linguistic  ability,  too,  and  in- 
defatigable powers  of  application — it  takes  both 
to  master  the  Arabic,  and  the  Arabic  is  the 
strait  and  narrow  way  that  leads  into  the  Mos- 
lem world.  Men  of  devotion,  also,  willing  to 
spend  their  lives  in  private  interviews  with  the 
Nicodemuses  of  Islam,  not  begrudging  their  best 
talents  and  days  to  dealing  with  individual  men, 
even  though  others  gain  greater  glory  by  ad- 
dressing large  gatherings  and  superintending 
widely-known  institutions  in  fields  more  imme- 
diately responsive  than  that  of  Moslem  life. 
Personal  workers,  masters  of  the  Christian  faith, 
and  of  the  faith  and  language  of  those  to  whom 
they  go,  who  are  willing  to  surrender  themselves, 
without  dependence  upon  the  machinery  of  mis- 
sionary institutions,  to  the  quiet  yet  effective  con- 
tact with  individuals  for  the  winning  of  them, 
one  by  one,  to  Christ. 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK 


235 


Above  all,  there  is  need  for  prayer.  Only 
through  prayer  can  this  miracle  be  accomplished : 
That  the  Copt,  who  was  born  blind  to  spiritual 
truth,  should  be  made  to  experience  regenerating 
grace;  that  the  Moslem,  who  has  never  seen 
in  Christian  doctrine  other  teaching  than  that  of 
blasphemous  idolatry,  should  come  to  see  in  it 
God’s  supreme  revelation  of  Himself  to  human- 
ity; and  that  the  Moslem  world  of  Egypt,  whose 
hatred  of  Christianity  has  been  made  keen  both 
by  the  ravaging  sword  of  Islam  and  the  resist- 
ing sword  of  the  Crusader,  should  find  its  hatred 
overcome  by  the  power  of  Christian  love. 

Why  .may  not  Egypt  be  speedily  evangelised? 
Political  barriers  have  been  largely  removed. 
Moslem  hostility  has  been  considerably  abated. 
Prosperity  has  lifted  the  nation  out  of  the  degra- 
dation of  extreme  poverty.  Missionary  expe- 
rience has  tested  and  proved  the  best  methods  of 
work.  Strategic  centres,  ready  to  be  occupied, 
abound  and  even  invite  occupation.  The  Church 
is  abundantly  able,  in  both  men  and  means,  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  task.  God  Himself 
hath  declared  for  our  encouragement,  “Jehovah 
shall  be  known  to  Egypt,  and  the  Egyptians  shall 
know  Jehovah  in  that  day.”  And  Christ’s  own 
word  unto  His  Church  is,  “ Say  not  ye.  There 
are  yet  four  months  and  then  cometh  the  har- 


236  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NILE 


vest?  behold,  I say  unto  you,  Lift  up  your  eyes, 
and  look  on  the  fields,  that  they  are  white  already 
unto  harvest.” 

We  say  it  reverently,  Deus  vult.  And,  ere  the 
present  generation  pass  away,  Christ  may  be 
made  known  in  every  city  and  town,  in  every 
village  and  hamlet  of  the  Nile  Valley,  if  the 
Church  of  Christ  be  also  willing. 


APPENDIX 


Note — For  those  desiring  to  push  their  investigations 
further,  the  following  explanations  or  references  to  au- 
thorities are  given.  Numerals  refer  to  page  and  line  to 
which  authorities  relate. 


P.  i6,  I II. 

P.  i6,  I 27. 

P.  17,  1.  2. 
P.  17,  I 4’ 

P.  18,  1.  5.' 
P.  18,  1.  7- 

P.  18,  1.  17. 
P.  18,  1.  21. 
P.  jp.  1.  2. 
P.  19,  1.  8. 

P.  20,  1.  2. 
P.  20,  1.  18. 


P.  21,  1.  I. 
P.  22,  1.  II. 
P.  23,  1.  2. 
P.  25,  1.  7. 


CHAPTER  I 

J.  G.  Milne,  “ A History  of  Egypt  under 
Roman  rule,”  129. 

E.  L.  Butcher,  “ The  Story  of  the  Church 
of  Egypt,”  I,  4. 

Herodotus,  II,  37. 

Georg  Steindorff,  “ The  Religion  of  the 
Ancient  Egyptians.” 

“Jewish  Encyclopaedia,”  see  Alexandria. 

Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christi- 

anity,” I,  7. 

“Jewish  Encyclopaedia,”  see  Egypt. 

“Jewish  Encyclopaedia,”  see  L^ontopolis. 

“Jewish  Encyclopaedia,”  see  Alexandria. 

Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christi- 

anity,” I,  12,  14. 

“Jewish  Encyclopaedia,”  see  Therapeutae. 

Philo’s  “ De  Vita  Contemplativa,”  alone 
testifies  to  the  existence  of  this  order. 
Some  have  been  inclined,  therefore,  to 
assign  the  book  a much  later  date  and 
make  it  describe  simply  an  order  of  Chris- 
tian monks.  See  Gratz,  Kuenen,  Lucius, 
referred  to  in  “Philo  Judaeus”  by  James 
Drummond. 

J.  G.  Milne,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  16. 

Baedeker,  “ Egypt,”  217. 

J.  G.  Milne,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  132. 

Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christi- 
anity,” I,  36. 


237 


238 

P.  25,  /.  19. 


APPENDIX 


P.  26,  I 27. 
P.  27,  I 7. 


P.  28,  1.  6. 
P.  29,  1.  17. 
P.  29y  1.  26. 


E.  L.  Butcher,  “ The  Story  of  the  Church  of 
Egypt,”  II,  19-23.  Mrs.  Butcher  has 
brought  together  in  two  most  readable 
volumes  all  that  relates  to  the  Church  of 
Egypt.  She  presents  a great  mass  of  in- 
teresting description.  Unfortunately,  au- 
thorities are  not  given,  so  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  distinguish  between  that  whose 
historicity  is  established  and  that  which 
is  based  on  wholly  uncertain  tradition. 

Hastings,  “ Dictionary  of  the  Bible,”  see 
Mark. 

Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christianity,” 
H,  305-8.  Harnack  sums  up  all  that  is 
definitely  known  of  Christianity  in  Egypt 
before  180  a.d.  under  six  headings:  (i) 
There  was  a local  gospel,  described  by 
Clement  of  Alexandria  and  others  as  the 
“ gospel  according  to  the  Egyptians,” 
which  orthodox  Christians  had  already 
dropped  from  use  by  the  end  of  the 
second  century.  (2)  The  heretic  Basilides 
laboured  in  Egypt.  (3)  Another  Egyptian, 
who  probably  began  his  work  in  Egypt, 
was  Valentinus.  (4)  From  the  Pales- 
tinian document  of  190  a.d.,  noticed  by 
Eusebius,  we  learn  that  the  Palestinian 
Church  had  exchanged  letters,  for  a 
longer  or  shorter  period,  with  the  church 
of  Alexandria  in  reference  to  the  celebra- 
tion of  Easter  on  the  same  date.  (5) 
Eusebius  introduces  with  a <pa<rlv  (“they 
say”)  the  statement  which  may  be  re- 
ferred back  to  the  opening  of  the  third 
century,  that  Mark,  the  disciple  of  the 
apostles,  preached  the  gospel  in  Egypt  and 
founded  churches  first  of  all  at  Alexandria 
itself.  (6)  An  Alexandrian  list  is  extant, 
which  gives  the  Bishops  of  Alexandria 
from  Mark  downwards;  but  unluckily  it 
is  quite  an  artificial  production. 

Hastings,  “ Dictionary  of  the  Bible,”  see 
Mark. 

Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christianity,” 
II,  309.  . . 

Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christi- 
anity,” II,  307. 


P.  31,  I 7. 

P.  31,  1.  II. 
P.  31,  1.  14. 

P.  31,  1.  23. 

P.  34,  /. 

P.  34,  1.  II. 

P.  35,  1.  27. 

P.  37,  1.  6. 

P.  37,  1.  II. 
P.  37,  1.  12. 

P.  37,  1.  28, 
P.  37,  1.  29. 

P.  38,  I 18. 
P.  46,  1.  18. 

P.  46,  1.  23. 


APPENDIX  239 

Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christi- 

anity, II,  309. 

Eusebius,  “ Ecclesiastical  History,”  VI,  i. 

Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christi- 
anity,” II,  312. 

Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christi- 
anity,” II,  321. 

I Cor.  3:10. 

Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christianity,” 
I,  458-460. 

E.  L.  Butcher,  “ The  Story  of  the  Church  of 
Egypt,”  I,  55.  . , „ 

Ueberweg,  “ A History  of  Philosophy, 

I,  243. 

Kingsley,  “ Hermits.” 

E.  L.  Butcher,  “ The  Story  of  the  Church  of 
Egypt,”  I,  104. 

J.  G.  Milne,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  86. 

E.  L.  Butcher,  “ The  Story  of  the  Church 
of  Egypt,”  I,  1 16. 

Eusebius,  ” Ecclesiastical  History,”  VIII,  9. 

Cf.  Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christi- 
anity,” I,  279. 

W.  E.  Crum,  “ Coptic  Ostraca,”  The  Egyp- 
tian Exploration  Fund.  To  illustrate  the 
emphasis  laid  on  ecclesiastical  authority, 
the  following  resume  is  worth  quoting 
from  a representative  ecclesiastical  docu- 
ment of  an  early  period : “ Undertak- 

ing by  Abraham,  reader  of  the  Church 
at  The,  who  has  applied  through  Victor 
and  Sabinus,  to  Bishop  Abraham  to  be 
ordained  deacon  for  the  same  church. 
The  bishop  having  accepted  this  guarantee, 
the  applicant  now  binds  himself  to  serve 
the  church  day  and  night  and  to  obey  the 
bishop  and  his  superiors  according  to  the 
canons.  He  further  promises  daily  and 
nightly  prayer  and  to  learn  the  gospel  of 
Matthew  by  heart;  to  fast  daily  till  even- 
ing in  Lent;  to  be  pure  (continent)  dur- 
ing the  days  of  communion ; to  recite , the 
Gospel  continually ; not  to  go  abroad  with- 
out leave.  Guarantors,  Sabinus  and 
Panau,  who  use  the  phrase,  ‘ his  blood 
shall  be  upon  us  if  he  keep  not  these 
undertakings.’  ” 


APPENDIX 


240 

P.  49,  I-  4- 
P.  49,  I 9. 
P.  49,  13- 

P.  49,  1.  28. 

P.  50,  1.  21. 

P.  51,  /.  5. 

P.  51,  I 28. 

P.  52,  I 4‘ 
P.  52,  1.  6. 
P.  54,  I 20. 

P.  54,  /. 

P.  56,  1.  2. 
P.  5<5,  /.  II. 


Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christi- 

anity,” II,  306. 

Harnack,  “ The  Expansion  of  Christi- 
anity, I,  152-180.  40^ 

F.  Legge,  “ A Coptic  Spell  of  the  Second 
Century,”  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Soc. 
of  Bibl.  Archeol.,  May,  1897,  p.  183. 

E.  Guimet,  “ Symboles  Asiatiques,”  Annales 
du  Musee  Guimet,  Tome  Trentieme, 
Troisieme  Partie,  p.  152. 

E,  Amelineau,  “ Contes  et  Romans  de 
I’Egypte  chretienne,” 

Rev.  G.  Horner,  “ The  Service  for  the  Con- 
secration of  a Church  and  Altar  accord- 
ing to  the  Coptic  Rite.” 

B.  Evetts,  “ Patrologia  Orientalis.”  Tome 
I,  Fascicule  2,  4.  History  of  the  Patri- 
archs of  the  Coptic  Church  of  Alexandria. 
“ The  Calendar  of  the  Coptic  Church.” 

“ The  Divine  'Eixo\6yiov.’* 

Butcher,  “ The  Story  of  the  Church  of 
Egypt,”  I,  195-9. 

E.  Amelineau,  Memoires  de  la  Mission 
Archeol.  frang.  au  Caire,  Tome  Qua- 
trieme : “ Monuments  pour  servir  a This- 
toire  de  I’Eg.  chretienne  au  IVe  et  Ve 
Siecles.” 

E.  Amelineau,  “ Fragments  Coptes  pour 
servir  a Thistoire  de  la  conquete  de 
TEgypte  par  les  Arabes.” 

James  Freeman  Clarke,  “ Events  and  Epochs 
in  Religious  History.” 


CHAPTER  II 


P.  60,  I 8. 
P.  63,  I 21. 

P.  64,  I 25. 

P.  65,  1.  23. 

P.  68,  1.  13. 


S.  M.  Zwemer,  “ Islam,”  55-56. 

A.  J.  Butler,  “ The  Arab  Conquest  of 

Egypt,”  18 1. 

A.  J.  Butler,  “ The  Arab  Conquest  of 

Egypt,”  186. 

A.  J.  Butler,  “ The  Arab  Conquest  of 

Egypt,”  192. 

A.  J.  Butler,  The  Arab  Conquest  of 
Egypt,”  449-452.  Contra  Lane-Poole,  “ A 
History  of  Egypt  in  the  Middle  Ages,”  19. 


P.  68,  I 20. 
P.  70,  I 8. 

P.  70,  1.  18. 


P.  70,  1.  24. 

P.  70,  I 25. 
P.  70,  1.  29. 
P.  71,  I 21. 
P.  72,  1.  12. 

P.  72,  I 16. 

P.  72,  1.  22. 
P.  72,  I 25. 
P.  73,  /. 

P.  74,  9. 

P.  74,  I 

P.  74,  I-  14- 

P.  75,  I 19^ 
P‘  77,  I J. 

P.  72,  1.  20. 


P.  80,  1.  I. 
P.  81,  1.  I. 


APPENDIX  241 

E.  L.  Butcher,  “ The  Story  of  the  Church 
of  Egypt,"  I,  402-3. 

The  period  of  the  French  occupation 
of  Egypt  (1798-1801)  is,  of  course,  a 
trifling  exception  to  this  statement. 

This  estimate  is  based  on  Amr’s  revenue  of 

8.000. 000  dinars  from  the  poll  tax.  A poll 
tax  of  about  two  dinars  was  levied  on 
each  taxable  male  adult.  This  would  give 

4.000. 000  taxable  male  adults.  We  must 
then  allow  4,000,000  for  adult  women, 
and  about  2,000,000  more  for  children  of 
both  sexes  and  non-taxable  male  adults. 
(Cf.  Lane-Poole,  “ A Hist,  of  Eg.,”  I9» 
and  Butler,  “ The  Arab  Conq.  of  Eg.,” 

454. 

Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  19, 
Footnote. 

Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  28. 

Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  38. 

The  dinar  (D.)  was  worth  about  $2.50. 

E.  L.  Butcher,  “ The  Story  of  the  Church 
of  Egypt,”  I,  393,  396. 

E.  L.  Butcher,  “ The  Story  of  the  Church 
of  Egypt,”  I,  394.  396. 

Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  27. 

Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  39. 

Quatremere,  “ Memoires  geographiques  et 
historiques  sur  I’Egypte,” 

Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  vide 
Index,  under  “ Churches.” 

E.  L.  Butcher,  “ The  Story  of  the  Church 
of  Egypt,”  I,  446. 

E.  L.  Butcher,  “ The  Story  of  the  Church 
of  Egypt,”  I,  405-419,  435,'  437- 

Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  146. 

Wm.  Muir,  “ The  Mameluke  or  Slave 
Dynasty  of  Egypt,”  41. 

Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  29. 

Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  170. 

Lane-Poole,  “A  History  of  Egypt,”  119,  169, 
241,  310. 

S.  M.  Zwemer,  “Islam,”  136. 

Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  31,  32, 
38,  39,  132,  136. 


242 


APPENDIX 


P.  8i,  1.  24.  Sir  Lewis  Pelly. 

P.  85,  1.  14.  Lane-Poole,  “A  History  of  Egypt,”  no. 

P.  8y,  1.  4.  Cf.  Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  75, 
133,  136,  326. 

P.  89,  1.  I.  Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  245,  327. 

P.  92,  1.  I.  Cf.  A.  J.  Butler,  “ The  Arab  Conquest  of 
Egypt,”  Chapter  VHI. 

P.  93,  1.  4.  Lane-Poole,  “ A History  of  Egypt,”  26,  76, 
145,  251 ; also  cf.  E.  M.  Wherry,  “ Islam 
and  Christianity  in  India  and  the  Far 
East,”  116-117. 

P.  94,  1.  18.  “ The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,”  25. 

P’  95,  5-  Lane-Poole,  “ Cairo.” 

P.  p7,  /.  26.  Lane-Poole,  “ Saladin,”  374. 


CHAPTER  HI 


P.  100,  1.  10. 
P.  loi,  1.  j8. 


P.  II8,  I 70. 
P.  II8,  1.  17. 

P.  120,  1.  2. 
P.  125,  I 9. 

P.  128,  1.  12. 

P.  130,  I 22. 

P.  131,  I 8. 


Andrew  Murray,  “ The  Key  to  the  Mis- 
sionary Problem,”  44-45. 

The  only  records  available  for  this  period 
are  the  diaries  or  notes  of  the  missionaries. 
These  are  very  interesting  reading : 
“ Periodical  Accounts  relating  to  the  Mis- 
sions of  the  Church  of  the  United 
Brethren  established  among  the  heathen.” 
1832.  Brethren’s  Society  for  the  further- 
ance of  the  Gospel  among  the  heathen. 
“ Narrative  of  the  life  of  John  Henry 
Danke.”  Vol.  XII,  Nos.  62,  134,  I35,  218, 
220.  Giving  life  and  work  of  Antes, 
Hocker,  Pilder,  Wieniger,  Danke. 

Eugene  Stock,  “ History  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,”  3 vols. 

Eugene  Stock,  “ History  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,”  I,  224. 

“ Church  Missionary  Gleaner,”  1882. 

Eugene  Stock,  “ History  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,”  I,  227-8. 

“ Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,”  1851, 
Sept,  194. 

“ Proceedings  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,”  1849-50,  XCI. 

Andrew  Watson,  “ American  Mission  in 
Egypt,”  34. 


APPENDIX 


243 


CHAPTER  IV 

P.  132,  1.  I.  The  standard  history  of  this  Mission  is 
Andrew  Watson’s  “ American  Mission  in 
Egypt,”  1897,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  pp.  487. 

P.  145,  1.  29.  A.  Watson,  “ American  Mission  in  Egypt,” 
163-172. 

P.  155,  1.  13.  A.  Watson,  “American  Mission  in  Egypt,” 
212-224. 


CHAPTER  V 

P.  176,  1.  26.  A short  but  interesting  sketch  of  Dr. 

Hogg’s  life  by  his  daughter,  appears  in 
“ In  the  King’s  Service,”  United  Presb. 
For.  Board,  Philadelphia. 


CHAPTER  VI 


P.  206,  I 7. 

P.  206,  1.  go. 

P.  206,  1.  12. 

P.  206,  1.  16. 

P.  206,  1.  25. 

P.  208,  1.  II. 

P.  2og,  1.  24. 
P.  212,  1.  2. 
P.  214,  1.  II. 

P.  214,  1.  ig. 
P.  215,  1.  2. 

P.  217,  1.  28. 


C.  R.  Watson,  “ Egypt  and  the  Christian 
Crusade,”  86. 

“ Le  Commerce  Exterieur  de  I’Egypte,” 
Alexandria,  1907. 

C.  R.  Watson,  “ Egypt  and  the  Christian 
Crusade,”  87. 

C.  R.  Watson,  “ Egypt  and  the  Christian 
Crusade,”  19-20. 

C.  R.  Watson,  “ Egypt  and  the  Christian 
Crusade,”  25. 

“ Arafate,”  Cairo,  Jan.,  1905,  39.  French 
edition. 

George  Sale,  “ The  Koran,”  II,  339. 

Lord  Cromer,  “ Modern  Egypt,”  II,  567. 

E.  W.  Lane,  “ The  Modern  Egyptians,” 
Chapter  VI. 

“ The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,”  25. 

“ Statistical  Return  of  Pupils,”  1907,  Minis- 
try of  Finance,  Cairo. 

Edward  Dicey,  “ The  Egypt  of  the  Future,” 
Chapter  V. 


t 


'<L 


■ •• 


/’f  r\ 


> 


. X 


INDEX 


Abba  Samuel,  64-65 
Abdallah,  69,  72,  90 
Abyssinia,  57,  loi,  103,  104, 
119,  124,  125 
Ahmed,  161-164 
Alexandria,  18,  19,  20,  21, 
22,  24,  26,  33,  35,  42,  64, 
92 

Amelineau,  50,  54,  56 
American  Mission,  132-190; 
establishment,  135 ; first 
decade,  134;  first  con- 
verts, 136;  first  presby- 
tery, 138;  first  persecu- 
tion, '139-145;  first  ro- 
mance, 145-146;  Church 
policy,  147;  opposed  by 
Copts,  146-157;  expan- 
sion and  organisation, 
158-168;  causes  of 
growth,  167 ; defection, 
174;  interest  among  Mos- 
lems, 175 ; a decade  of 
changes,  176-181 ; work 
in  Delta,  179-180;  growth 
and  development,  181- 
188;  epoch-making  con- 
ference, 188;  service  of, 
231.  See  Statistics 
Amr,  60,  68 

Ancient  Egypt,  16-17;  re- 
ligion of,  16,  32;  influ- 
enced by  Christianity,  30; 
influences  Christianity, 
49-50 

Angel-worship,  50-52 
Annianus,  26 
Anno  Domini,  15 


Antes,  107,  1 17 
Appendix,  237 
Arab  invasion,  66,  77 
Arabs,  171 
Arian  heresy,  39-41 
Asceticism,  20,  37,  42,  53-57 
Athanasius,  40,  41 
Authorities,  7,  see  Appen- 
dix 

Author’s  Preface,  5 
Azhar,  90 

Babylon,  25,  67 
Bamba,  145-146 
Barnabas,  26 
Benjamin,  64-65 
Books : consulted,  7 ; on 

Egypt,  171 

British  occupation,  171,  172, 
204-213 

Butler,  A.  J.,  63 

Cairo  Conference  for  Mos- 
lems, 232 

Caliph,  Position  of,  82-83 
Chalcedon,  Council  of,  35, 
43,  63 

Cholera,  75,  134,  173,  176 
Christianity,  see  Early 
Christianity 

Christian  government-offi- 
cers, 79 

Church  Missionary  Society, 
118-131,  190-200,  231 
Church  Missionary  Intelli- 
gencer, 128 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  27, 

31 


245 


246 


INDEX 


College  at  Alexandria,  29, 
35 

Constantine,  39 
Constantinople,  41,  44 
Copt,  74,  221 

Coptic  Church  Calendar, 
39,  52.  See  Early  Chris- 
tianity 

Coptic  Church:  origin,  see 
Early  Christianity;  under 
Moslems,  60-98;  calendar 
of,  39.  52;  Patriarch,  63, 
64,  67,  72,  103,  1 19,  12 1, 
123,  124,  126,  148,  151, 
153,  154,  155,  179;  condi- 
tion of,  105,  127,  128,  129, 
136,  137,  149,  179,  222- 
224 ; opposition  to  Prot- 
estantism, 147-158;  pres- 
ent outlook,  220-225;  bap- 
tisrn,  221 ; transubstan- 
tiation,  221 ; tendencies, 
221 

Cossart,  103 

Council  of  Chalcedon,  43 ; 

of  Nicea,  40 
Creed,  Early,  48 
Cromer,  Lord,  207,  208 
Cyrus,  64,  65 

Dales,  177 
Danke,  104,  106 
De  Vita  Contemplativa,  19- 
20,  Appendix 
Dhulip  Singh,  145-146 
Didaskaloi,  33 

Diocletian,  Persecution  of, 

38,  39 

Dionysius  of  Alexandria, 
33 

Dioscorus,  43 
Divorce,  94 
Dutch  Mission,  202 

Early  Christianity,  13-59; 

entrance  of,  14-39;  tradi- 
' tions  of,  25-28;  first  con- 


vert, 26;  early  entrance, 
27;  touches  Jews,  27-28; 
reaches  Greeks,  29-30 ; 
rapid  extension,  31; 
causes  of  growth,  32-35 ; 
foreign  missions,  33;  or- 
der of  teachers,  33-34 ; 
missionary  spirit,  34-35 ; 
deteriorates,  35,  37;  per- 
secuted, 38-39 ; Arian 
heresy,  39-41 ; conflict 
with  emperor,  40-41,  46; 
monastic  movement,  41- 
42 ; Monophysite  heresy, 
42-43 ; deterioration,  43 ; 
ecclesiasticism,  45 ; specu- 
lative philosophy,  47 ; 
pagan  influence,  48 ; 
Mariolatry  and  angel- 
worship,  50;  Monasti- 
cism,  53  ; loss  of  mission- 
ary spirit.  57.  See  Per- 
secution, Coptic,  Islam 
Ecclesiasticism,  45 
Ecumenical  Council,  40 
Educational,  see  Schools 
Egypt  and  the  Christian 
Crusade,  6 

Egypt:  a Roman  province, 
15;  invaded  by  Arabs,  61; 
before  Arab  invasion,  62; 
under  Moslem  rule,  84- 
97;  under  British  rule, 
204-213 

Egypt  General  Mission,  200 
Egyptian,  see  Ancient 
Epiphanius,  29,  35 
Era  of  Martyrs,  39 
Eusebius,  26,  27,  31,  38 
Evangelical  Church,  157, 
158,  160,  165,  225-230 
Exorcism,  49 

Earn  Stephanos,  155,  178 
Famine,  74-76 
Paris,  139-144 
Fasting,  106,  220 


INDEX 


Folk  lore,  50 
Foreign  missions,  33 

Gobat,  120,  121,  130 
Government,  see  Roman, 
Moslem,  British 
Greek:  world  in  Egypt,  15, 
20-25;  language,  18; 
colonies,  21-22;  religion, 
22-26;  converts  to  Chris- 
tianity, 29-30;  philosophy, 
37;  see  Hellenism. 
Greek-Orthodox,  see  Mel- 
kite 

Guimet,  49 

Harnack,  25,  28,  29,  31, 
34 

Hellenism,  18,  19,  24,  25-26, 
28,  29,  32,  37 
Heraclius,  62 

Heresy,  see  N o v a t i a n, 
Arian,  Monophysite,  Nes- 
torian,-  Plymouthism 
Herodotus,  17 
History,  see  Coptic,  Islam, 
Missions;  important  peri- 
ods, 14,  70 
Hocker,  101-117 
Hogg,  135,  148,  176 
Horner,  51 
Hypatia,  42,  46,  56 

Idolatry,  16,  17,  22,  23,  48, 
49 

Immigration  of  Moslems, 
77 

Institutions,  Special,  201 
Islam:  in  Egypt,  7;  domi- 
nant, 13;  entrance,  10; 
character  of,  79 ; tested, 
83 ; present  condition,  215- 
220 ; conservative  char- 
acter, 216;  Pan-Islamic 
congresses,  217;  tenden- 
cies, 217-219;  opportunity 
for  missions,  219;  confer- 


247 

ence  of  mission  workers, 
232;  see  Moslem 
Ismail,  169-170 

Jacobite,  63,  67 
Jeremiah,  17,  18 
Jerusalem,  18,  27 
Jewish:  world  in  Egypt,  15, 
17-20;  population,  18, 
31;  philosophy,  19;  con- 
verts to  Christianity,  27- 
29 

Jowett,  1 18,  1 19,  120,  125 
Judaism,  see  Jewish 
Judaistic  party,  19 

Klein,  191 
Krapf,  120 
Kruse,  120,  130 
Kugler,  120,  121 

Lane,  E.  W.,  214 
Lane-Poole,  Stanley,  70,  76, 
85,  95 

Lansing,  135,  144,  177 
Leontopolis,  18 
Liberality,  229 
Lieder,  120,  123,  126,  130 
Literature : Arabic,  90 ; mis- 
sionary, 1 19,  120,  121, 

149,  186,  194,  202,  227 

Maharajah  Dhulip  Singh, 
145-146 
Makrisi,  73 

Mameluke,  70,  86,  88,  89, 
107 

Mariolatry,  50-52,  220 
Marriage,  Moslem,  76,  214 
Mark,  John,  25,  26,  28 
Medical  work,  loi,  186 
Melkite  Church,  41,  63,  64, 
68 

Mikhail,  137 

Missionary  agencies,  230- 
236 

Missionary  problems,  13 


INDEX 


248 

Missionary  spirit,  34,  57-58, 
227-229 

Modern  missions : early, 

99-168;  recent,  169-203 
Mohammed  Ali,  169 
Mohammedan,  see  Islam 
Monasticism,  53-57 
Monophysite  heresy,  42-43, 
63,  67,  220 
Monothelite,  63 
Moravians,  99-118,  230 
Moslem : domination,  69 ; 

taxation,  71 ; legislation, 
72 ; persecution,  73  ; gov- 
ernment, 74 ; social  life, 
76 ; immigration,  77 ; 
sects,  80;  luxury,  85; 
cruelty,  86 ; misgovern- 
ment,  87 ; slavery,  89 ; 
education,  90 ; morals, 
92;  missionary  spirit  and 
courage,  96-98 ; see  Is- 
lam 

Moslem  converts,  115,  161, 
175,  180,  195-200;  work 
among,  106,  161,  180,  190, 

194,  195 

Mott,  184 
Mueller,  120,  121 
Museum,  21 

Napoleon,  169 
Naville,  49 
Need,  232-235 
Neo-Platonism,  37 
Nestorian  heresy,  43 
Nile  Mission  Press,  202 
North  African  Mission,  200 
Novatian  heresy,  37 
Nubia,  69 

Omar,  61 
Opportunity,  235 
Orientalism,  24,  25,  47 
Origen,  27,  33,  35,  36,  37 
Othman,  69 

Oxyrynchos,  16,  18,  22,  54 


Pagan  influences,  48 
Pan-Islamism,  217 
Pantaenus,  33 

Patriarch,  see  Coptic 
Church 
Paul,  26,  27 

Persecution : of  early  Chris- 
tians, 35,  37,  38;  by  Is- 
lam, 72-75,  78 ; of  Mo- 
ravians, 107;  of  C.  M.  S., 
123;  of  Paris,  a Protes- 
tant, 139-144;  of  Protes- 
tants by  Copts,  149-156; 
of  Ahmed,  161-164 
Peter,  25-27 
Pharos,  21 

Philo,  18,  19,  20,  28 
Philosophy,  see  Hellenism 
Pilder,  103 
Plotinus,  37 
Plymouthism,  174 
Political  conditions,  204-213 
Political  parties,  211-212 
Population,  13,  15,  70,  71 
Preface,  5 

Princeton  Lectures,  5 
Protestant  Church,  see 
Evangelical 
Ptolemais  Hermiu,  22 

Quatremere,  73 

References,  see  Appendix 
Religions,  see  Ancient 
E^pt,  Greek,  Jewish, 
Missions 
Ritual,  5L  52 
Roman  government,  15,  16, 
20 

Rufinus,  54 

Rules  of  monasticism,  54-56 

Sabbath  observance,  209 
Saladin,  91 

Schools:  Moslem,  90;  C. 
M.  S.,  122,  124,  125,  126; 


INDEX 


249 


American  Mission,  134, 
152,  158,  I59»  182-185 
Scotland,  Established 
Church  of,  201 
Shia,  81,  82,  91 
Social  conditions,  213-215 
Speculative  philosophy,  47 
Spell  of  exorcist,  49 
Statistics,  157,  158,  159,  166, 
176,  181,  187,  188,  225, 
230,  233 

Steindorff,  Georg,  17 
Sudan,  186-187 
Sudan  Pioneer  Mission,  201 
Sunni,  81,  82 

Taxation,  68,  69,  70,  71, 
206 

Teachers,  Order  of,  33 
Temperance,  92-93 
Therapeutae,  19-20 
Thornton,  192 


Tourists,  5 
Tradition,  25,  26,  50 

United  Presbyterian 
Church,  132 

Valentinus,  29 

Watson,  Andrew,  7,  131, 
132,  144,  224 
Whately,  201-202 
Wieniger,  115-117 
Witchcraft,  17,  30,  49 
Woman : in  Islam,  95 ; 

schools  for,  122,  184,  214; 
harem  work,  185;  condi- 
tion of,  213-215 

Y.  W.  C A.,  202 

Zinzendorf,  100,  103 
Zwemer,  60,  93 


AFRICA 


The  Redemption  of  Africa 

FREDERIC  PERRY  NOBLE 

Illustrations,  Maps  and  Tables,  2,  vols.,  8vo,  Cloth,  $4.00. 

The  subtitle  of  this  book,  “A  Story  of  Civilization,”  is 
a most  fitting  supplement  to  the  distinctive  title.  “No  book 
on  any  land  surpasses  this  in  thoroughness  of  preparation, 
wealth  of  citation,  impartiality  of  judgment,  and  the  pre- 
dominant desire  to  tell  nothing  but  the  truth.”  This  testi- 
mony from  The  New  York  Sun  is  emphasized  by  every  jour- 
nal acquainted  with  missions  in  that  land.  It  is  practically  an 
encyclopedia  on  Africa, 


Dawn  in  the  Dark  Continent; 

JAMES  STEWART,  M.  D„  D.D. 

Colored  Maps,  8vo,  Cloth,  $2.00  net. 

There  has  probably  been  no  man  more  competent  to 
outline  the  missionary  work  in  Africa  than  the  veteran 
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he  has  done  in  this  volume,  supplementing  it  by  some  in- 
valuable comments  on  the  training  of  a missionary. 


The  Egyptian  Sudan 

REV.  JOHN  KELLY  GIPFEN 

Illustrated,  lamo.  Cloth,  $1.00  net. 

This  new  mission  field  of  the  American  United  Presby- 
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faced  in  such  a country.  The  Interior  knows  of  “no  other 
book  so  full  of  information  as  to  a great  military  and 
economic  center  on  the  Cape-to-Cairo  railway. 


On  the  Borders  of  Pigmy  Land 

Illustrated,  izmo,  Cloth,  $1.25  net.  RUTH  B.  FISHER 
Mrs.  Fisher  is  a successful  author  and  has  written  a book 
which  commands  the  enthusiastic  approval  of  “all  sorts  and 
conditions”  of  papers,  missionary,  religious  and  secular.  The 
Mountains  of  the  Moon,  the  Great  Lakes,  the  Uganda  Rail- 
way, Pigmies  and  other  tribes  combine  to  give  a rare  and  sig- 
nificant setting  to  the  work  of  the  missionary. 


Pioneering  on  the  Congo 

REV.  W.  HOLMAN  BENTLEY 

Illustrated,  2 vols.,  8vo,  Cloth,  $5.00  net. 

The  present  Congo  discussions  acquire  a new  interest 
in  the  light  of  the  conditions  as  brought  to  light  by  the 
early  missionaries.  No  one  has  done  this  better  than  Mr. 
Bentley,  of  the  English  Baptists.  A fine  scholar,  a sympa- 
th/^"  *c,  “accurate  observer,  impartial,  intelligent,  trustworthy.” 


AFRICA 


Daybreak  in  Livingstonia 

Til  J ^1  , * JAMES  W,  JACK.  M.  A. 

Illustrated,  lamo,  Cloth,  $1.50  net. 

“One  of  the  best  missionary  histories,  combining  possibili- 
ties of  romance  almost  as  thrilling  as  King  Solomon’s  Mines, 
with  a calm  presentation  of  visible  and  tangible  results  that 
ought  to  open  the  eyes  of  any  who  still  consider  Christian 
Missions  a failure.” — Glasgow  Herald. 


In  Afric’s  Forest  and  Jungle 

Illustrated,  lamo.  Cloth,  $1.00.  REV.  R.  H.  STONE 

A record  of  Six  Years  Among  the  Yorubans  on  the 
West  Coast  of  Africa,  with  numerous  tales  of  thrilling  ex- 
periences growing  out  of  the  wars  between  the  great  African 
tribes.”  A vivacious  and  deeply  interesting  volume.” 


The  Sign  of  the  Cross  in  Madagascar 

REV.  J.  J.  KILPIN  FLETCHER 

Illustrated,  lamo.  Cloth,  $1.00. 

A pastor,  appointed  to  visit  Madagascar  and  report  on 
the  work  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  fascinated  by 
what  he  learned,  has  gathered  up  the  results  in  story  form. 
With  remarkably  vivid  touch  he  describes  the  early  condi- 
tions, the  coming  of  the  “strange  messengejs,”  the  /‘mighty 
faith,”  the  bitter  persecution,  the  divine  interposition,  the 
changes  and  the  victory  of  the  Cross. 


The  Personal  Life  of  David  Livingstone 

'W.  GARDEN  BLAIKIE,  D.  D. 

Portrait  and  maps,  8vo,  Cloth,  $1.50. 

This  standard  life  of  the  great  missionary  and  explorer 
has  the  peculiar  advantage  of  the  special  authorization  by  his 
family  to  use  unpublished  journals  and  correspondence.  There 
is  thus  a peculiar  power  in  its  presentation  of  what  the  S.  S. 
Times  calls  his  “simple  but  noble  life  of  self-surrender  to  a 
great  motive.” 


Pilkington  of  Uganda 

C.  F.  HARFORD-BATTERSBV,  M.  A.,  M.  D. 

Illustrated,  8vo,  Cloth,  $1.50. 

A fitting  sequel  to  the  biography  of  Alexander  Mackay, 
covering  with  that  a moral  transformation  equal  perhaps  to 
anything  recorded  even  in  apostolic  days. 


A Life  for  Africa 

Illustrated,  lamo,  Cloth,  $1.25.  ELLEN  C*  PARSONS 

* This  biography  of  Rev.  A.  C.  Good,  Ph.D.,  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  by  the  Editor  of  Woman's 
Work  for  Woman,  is  both  a record  of  missionary  service, 
and  opens  up  a section  of  West  Equatorial  Africa  of  which 
little  IS  known. 


AFRICA 


A Miracle  of  African  Missions 

i6  mo.  Cloth,  6oc  net.  JOHN  BELL 

The  story  of  Matula,  a Congo  Convert,  describes  a change 
as  great  as  that  in  the  Apostle  Paul,  as  profound  as  that  in 
Jerry  McAuley.  The  Interior  says,  “It  ought  to  be  digested 
and  preached  in  every  pulpit  in  the  land.” 

AdaOra  t Romance  of  a West  African  Girl. 

Illustrated,  lamo,  Cloth,  50c  net.  MARY  E.  BIRD 

**An  excellent  book,”  ^ so  says  The  Christian  Observer, 
“for  our  young  people’s  missionary  library.” 

Missionary  Biographies  Series 

• Illustrated,  lamo.  Cloth,  each  75c. 

Albert  Moffatt  DAVID  J.  DEANE 

The  Missionary  Hero  of  Kuruanan. 

Samuel  Crowther  JESSE  PAGE 

The  Slave  Boy  who  became  Bishop  of  the  Niger. 

Thomas  J.  Comber  REV.  JOHN  B.  MVERS 

Missionary  Pioneer  to  the  Congo. 

Madagascar  W.  J.  TOWNSEND.  D.D. 

Its  Missionaries  and  Martyrs. 

Thomai  Birch  Freeman  REV.  JOHN  MILUM 

Missionary  Pioneer  to  Ashanti,  Dahomey  and  Egba. 

The  Congo  for  Christ  REV.  JOHN  B.  MYERS 

The  Story  of  the  Congo  Mission. 

David  Livingstone  A.  MONTEFIORE 

Missionary  and  Explorer. 

Missionary  Annals  Series 

lamo.  Paper,  each  15c;  Flexible  Cloth,  each  30c  net 

Robert  Moffatt  M.  L.  WILDER 

David  Livingstone  MRS.  J.  H.  WORCESTER 

Madgascaar  BELLE  McPHERSON  CAMPBELL 

Biographies : World’s  Benefactors  Series 

Illustrated,  lamo.  Cloth,  each  75c. 

David  Livingstone  ARTHUR  MONTEFIORE,  F.  R.  Q.  S. 

His  Labors  and  His  Legacy. 

Henry  M.  Stanley  ARTHUR  MONTEFIORE,  F.  R.  G.  S. 

The  African  Explorer. 


THE  LEVANT 


Constantinople  and  its  Problems 

HENRY  OTIS  DWIGHT.  LL.D. 

Illustrated,  lamo.  Cloth,  $1.25  net. 

Dr.  Dwight’s  long  residence,  and  his  intimate  rela- 
tions with,  and  knowledge  of,  the  political  movements,  entitle 
him  to  speak  authoritatively,  and  his  habit  of  mind  enables 
him  to  consider  philosophically  the  inter  relations  of  the  dif- 
ferent phases  of  the  city’s  life.  The  book  is,  as  The  Outlook 
justly  says,  “a  sociolo^cal  study — sociological  in  the  broadest 
sense,”  of  that  inner  life  which  is  the  heart  of  the  Empire. 


The  Turk  and  his  Lost  Provinces ; sketches 

and  Studies  of  life  and  travel  in  the  land  of  the  Sultan. 

WILLIAM  ELEROY  CURTIS 

Illustrated,  8vo,  Cloth,  $2.00  net. 

The  present-day  American  probably  has  little  realization 
that  Greece,  Servia,  Bosnia  and  Bulgaria  were  once  integral 
parts  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  This  important  fact  Mr.  Curtis 
has  wisely  recognized.  Robert  College  and  the  missionary 
work  receive  good  attention. 


Today  in  Syria  and  Palestine 

WILLIAM  ELEROY  CURTIS 

Illustrated,  8vo,  Cloth,  $2.00  net. 

Well  described  by  the  Washington^  Post  as  “one  of  the  most 
truthful  and  unbiased  books  ever  written  on  the^  “Holy  Land.” 
Has  a chapter  on  the  center  of  Protestant  missionary  work  at 
Beirut,  and  the  various  enterprises  at  Jerusalem. 


The  Mediterranean  Traveler 

D.  E.  LORENZ,  Ph.  D. 

Illustrated,  Maps,  izmo.  Cloth,  $2.50  net. 

This  is  a practical  guide-book  for  a tourist  of  the  Medit- 
erranean. It  passes  in  review  the  chief  cities,  Athens,  Cairo, 
Constantinople,  Damascus,  Gibraltar,  Jerusalem,.  Naples, 
Rome,  and  gives  special  attention  to  missions. 


Letters  from  the  Scenes  of  the  Recent 
Massacres  in  Armenia 

PROP.  J RENDEL  and  HELEN  B.  HARRIS 

Illustrated,  Map,  8vo,  Cloth,  $1.25. 

Prof,  and  Mrs.  Harris  visited  Turkey  after  the  famous 
massacres  in  1895  and  1896,  and  these  letters  tell  the  story  of 
a time  that  never  ought  to  lose  its  meaning  for  Christians. 

The  Conversion  of  Armenia  to  the  Chris- 
tian Faith  w.  ST.  clair-tisdall,  d.d. 

i2mo.  Cloth,  $1.40. 

A sketch  of  the  origin,  history  and  home  of  the  Armenians. 


THE  LEVANT 


Arabia : The  Cradle  of  Islam 

SAMUEL  M.  ZWEMER,  D.D.,  P.  R.  G.  S. 

Illustrated,  Maps,  8vo,  Cloth,  $2.00. 

Dr.  Zwemer  has  studied  Arabia  as  probably  no  other  man 
has,  and  the  result  of  observation,  experience  and  reading  are 
set  forth  in  these  “Studies  in  the  Geography,  People  and 
Politics  of  the  Peninsula;  with  an  account  of  Islam  and  Mis- 
sionary Work.”  Not  merely  is  it  thorough  in  its  material 
but  the  style  is  vivid  and  interesting,  and  what  has  come  to 
be  known  as  “the  neglected  peninusla”  springs,  under  his 
touch,  into  new  life. 


Topsy-Turvy  ly£ind  ; Arabia  pictured  for  Children 

SAMUEL  M.  and  AMY  E.  ZWEMER 

8vo,  Decorated  Cloth,  75c  net. 

Written  in  a vivacious  and  simple  way;  full  of  fun-in- 
earnest; alive  with  information  on  the  oddities  of  desert, 
children,  amusements,  customs  and  even  the  Arabic  puzzle; 
it  connects  all  with  the  missionary  effort  to  set  topsy-turvy  life 
right-side  up.  “We  might  go  on  almost  endlessly;  but  it  will 
be  better  to  get  the  book,  and  if  you  do,  you  will  surely  read 
it  without  coaxing.” — Church  Standard. 


Persian  Life  and  Customs 

REV.  SAHUEL  G.  WILSON,  D.D. 

Illustrated,  Map,  8vo,  Cloth,  $1.25. 

Interwoven  with,  and  illuminating,  the  more  serious  items 
of  information,  are  many  incidents  of  residence  and  travel 
in  the  Land  of  the  Lion  and  the  Sun,  all  together  combining 
to  make  a most  valuable  and  popular  book  on  a land  but 
little  known.  It  is  evident,  as  the  N.  Y.  Tribune  says,  that 
“the  author  has  studied  with  much  care  the  condition  of 
Persia  and  its  future  possibilities.” 


Missions  in  Cden 

MRS.  CROSBY  H.  WHEELER 

Illustrated,  izmo.  Cloth,  $1.00. 

“Glimpses  of  Life  in  the  Valley  of  the  Euphrates.” 


Women  and  the  Gospel  in  Persia 

THOHAS  LAURIE,  D.Dc 

Missionary  Annals  Series,  Paper,  15c;  Cloth,  30c  net. 

The  Story  of  Fidelia  Fiske  and  the  Seminary  at  Urumla. 

Life  of  Justin  Perkins,  D.  D. 

REV.  HENRY  MARTYN  PERKINS 

Missionary  Annals  Series,  Paper,  15c;  Cloth,  30c.  net. 
The  Founder  of  the  Mission  to  the  Nestorians  in  Persia. 


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